Customer Reviews

Broadcast News (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

". . . if desperation and insecurity made us attractive? If needy were a turn on?" Though Albert Brooks delivers this line, *Broadcast News* is not directed by him; it's directed by JAMES Brooks (who also wrote and produced -- truly a product of one creative mind, here). It's a measure of how well James Brooks knows his 3 principal characters that the actors who play them speak as if they wrote their own dialogue. *Broadcast News* is a classic primarily because these characters are so completely realized, so lived-in, as it were. We end up knowing these characters nearly as well as they seem to know themselves ("I'll meet you at the place near the thing where we went that time"). William Hurt is the not-terribly bright aspiring anchorman; Holly Hunter is the type-A news producer; and Albert Brooks is the reporter after "hard news" (meaning, REAL news). One reviewer here complained that he didn't like Albert Brooks as much as he was "supposed to" and that Hurt's character wasn't villainous enough. But that's the point. While we side with Brooks' work ethics throughout, we are often disappointed in him, particularly when out of lovesick frustration he descends to cheap pettiness by rubbing his intellectual superiority in Hurt's nose and says hurtful things to Hunter's character. And while we disdain Hurt's corner-cutting career ambitions, we're also surprised at the man's humaneness, as when he calls his father in a touching scene, joyously proclaiming, "Dad, I think I can do this job!" The point being, of course, that these are REAL people, presented in such a way as nowadays seems impossible in mainstream Hollywood productions. As if this wasn't wonderful enough, the movie is interested in actual WORK: it's quite educational on how a network news program is edited, staged, and generally put together, even providing the inside skinny on how to straighten the shoulders of one's suit-jacket. And certainly the concern with ethics in journalism puts this romantic comedy on a far higher level than is usual with the genre. I'm talking a level on par with some of the great novelists of the 19th century, like Austen and Henry James and Trollope and Hardy. In other words, *Broadcast News* is nothing less than a formal comedy of manners . . . one of the best ever put on the screen. Oh, and by the way: the bittersweet ending is precise and true. Much like the rest of the movie.

Of all James L. Brooks' films, Broadcast News is the most successful at merging his T.V. sitcom sensibilities with his cinematic aspirations. His film is not only chock full of truisms about network news but is also an incredibly entertaining and witty romantic comedy that is unafraid to sprinkle moments of compelling drama throughout.

The first disc includes an audio commentary with writer-director-producer James L. Brooks and editor Richard Marks. Rather appropriately, Brooks starts off with talking about the genesis of the film and how the success of Terms of Endearment affected it. He points out the bits in the film that came from his extensive research and touches upon the casting of the lead roles - for example, Holly Hunter was a last minute addition. Brooks is refreshingly candid and tells all kinds of fascinating filming anecdotes.

Also included is a theatrical trailer.

The second disc starts off with a 36-minute documentary entitled, James L. Brooks - A Singular Voice, with past collaborators singing his praises. It starts off with his trailblazing work in T.V. with 227, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Simpsons and how he helped change the medium. It also examines his transition into film and the success of Terms and how it led to Broadcast News.

There is an alternate ending and 19 minutes of deleted scenes with optional commentary by Brooks. The ending is quite visceral and emotionally raw but is fascinating alternative to what is in the final film. For the deleted footage, Brooks talks about why it was cut and puts it into context. Interestingly, an entire subplot involving Tom and his news source was cut out.

Also included is an interview with Susan Zirinsky, a veteran CBS News producer, one of the models for Jane in the film, and an advisor and associate producer. She talks about meeting Brooks for the first time as well as telling amusing and engaging anecdotes that really shed light on how truthful the film is about journalism. This is a fantastic extra and one of the highlights of this edition.

There is a promotional featurette done at the time of the film's release that, at times, plays like an extended trailer only with perceptive interview soundbites from Brooks and the cast. Still, it is interesting to watch. Even better is additional interviews and on-set footage not included in the featurette that runs an impressive 18 minutes. It provides quite a bit of insight into Brooks' intentions and how the film got made.

A crackerjack of a movie, it's an intelligent and very funny look at TV broadcast news and the people who bring it to us. William Hurt is the pretty face/no brains anchor, Albert Brooks the smart writer who wants to be an anchor but doesn't have the talent, and Holly Hunter is the hyperactive producer who falls for both guys and loses both. So much is going on in this movie that repeated viewings reveal new insights and are always enjoyable. Great acting by all, and the script is terrific. The only fault, and it's a minor one, is the epilogue: it's superfluous. To me, this is one of the best, if not THE best, movies of the 80's.

While this is without question a 5-star film, the dvd leaves MUCH to be desired. Let me begin with the widescreen framing. I was happy to finally see this arrive on dvd in its proper wide format. Out of curiosity I took out my oft-played VHS copy and compared the compositions. Understanding that many 1.85:1 pictures are merely 1.33:1 aspects with mattes placed on the top and bottom of the frame, I wasn't expecting to be too disappointed with the missing, albeit unintended, visual information. But I have to say - not only is the top and bottom masked off, but the SIDES are zoomed in and cropped as well. In other words you lose information on ALL FOUR SIDES, and it does NOT look good. This CANNOT be what James L. Brooks had in mind...could it?!?! Sorry to say, but this has to be one of the most RARE examples where the "full-frame", that is, full aperture is preferred over the letterboxed edition. Which brings me to my next point: somebody PLEASE re-issue this as a Special Edition, replete with commentaries, and any extra footage. Finally, whoever, please, PLEASE re-frame this into a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer. Widescreen is preferred, but on the existing dvd the framing is just too tight.

The accuracy of Criterion's new blu-ray version of BROADCAST NEWS is evident the minute the 20th-Century Fox logo is displayed: it is rich in the kind of grain that dominated film stock of the eighties. The color timing is superb and topples all previous video releases in richness and detail. The video extras are indulgent promotional pieces - crass for Criterion; but the commentary by Brooks will be of interest for those that want to delve deeper.
The film is a pinnacle in Brooks' career - he never did anything better, before or since, and all his experience in the tacky world of sitcom television really pays off here - and he successfully avoids making a pastiche of Chayefsky's cynically brilliant NETOWRK in favor of his own perceptive humanist view. Brooks rightfully and continually praises his marvelous BROADCAST NEWS cast; it's a picture dependent on their perfectly pitched performances.

I can watch this movie over and over again. Brilliant performances by all in both the primary and secondary roles. The type of movie where each time you watch, you pick up something new. I think that part of the appeal of the movie is that we can all identify with each of the three lead characters in some way. If I had to take just five movies with me to the proverbial desert island, this would surely be one of them.

The media as purveyors of sensational 'news' in the spirit of good 'salesmanship' and entertainment as opposed to actually reporting unbiased, important events and issues to inform the public, that is journalism, as it was meant to be, is represented in this charming and witty film from the genius of James L. Brooks. (Terms of Endearment, As Good as it Gets) To be fair, some television news organizations attempt to report important events as they happen, avoiding sensationalism, the need to entertain, and maintain a modicum of integrity. But television news is more and more about the dazzling visual, the shocking three- minute sound bite between the all-important advertisements. This film cleverly addresses the question on what is 'real' news and what 'sells'. In the past we sort of had a clue or at least a choice as to what news source was credible, i.e., tabloid-ism and/or serious journalism. It all seems now to be blurred - sensationalism, gossip, opinion, selling and the so-called 'facts' of an event or issue has now appeared to all have melded together in the pursuit of market share and the almighty dollar.

The character, Tom, (William Hurt) is a striving newsreader, and after reading sports at a local station, manages to land a job at one of the big networks. He is a little slow, can't write, and wouldn't know a real story if it dropped on his head, but he's good looking, personable, can at least read, and above all, has the innate ability to sell the birds off the trees. Here is the new force in television journalism - news anchor as television star. Then there is Aaron, (Albert Brooks) the reporter's reporter - brilliant, serious, idealistic and wholly uncharismatic in the popular sense. Although a writer with Pulitzer Prize ability, he attempts to read the news one Sunday night and almost drowns in his own flop sweat. Aaron is not a newsreader but a true writer and investigative journalist, a man who believes in the integrity of his profession. Then, of course, there's Jane, (Holly Hunter) a highly-strung, also brilliant, obsessive news producer, who shares this same idealistic integrity about journalism as her co-worker and best friend, Aaron. The film is about these three diverse and colourful individuals, who are drawn together for the same reasons, ambition and the news, but whose ideas about the news, their values concerning integrity, at least for one, are so different. This film is also about love, relationships and how the passionate desires of the heart do not necessarily match the logic of the head.

At the time of it release, this film was acclaimed as the best romantic comedy to come out in years. It continues to be enormously entertaining and the issues it raises are relevant today. The film truly depicts the world of television news, how its standards have slowly dropped from reporting the events and issues to entertaining us with gossip, sensationalism and that all-important dazzling visual - news is now about entertainment and selling. This is a film that should be pulled from the shelf occasionally and watched to remind us about integrity, maintaining a high standard in our values, and what great movie making is all about. Five Stars.

At first glance, this appears to be a love triangle movie with a good looking cast. But, there is more to this movie than just three co-workers who fight, play, and cry together. This interesting look at TV news probably best sums up the production of news teams on major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) as well as CNN, FOX, and MS-NBC. The overall big picture of this movie is the sensationalizing of news through a handsome anchor (William Hurt's Tom Grunick), informative but dry correspondent (Albert Brooks' Aaron Altmann), and a clever behind-the-scenes producer (Holly Hunter's Jane Craig). To avoid revealing anymore plot, this lesser-known hit from James L. Brooks probably was too smart for the Oscars. Now days, this movie probably would be given the attention of more controversial films like "Good Night, Good Luck" and such. Overall, this was probably in my opinion the first serious and also funny look into what journalism really is today. The DVD quality is decent and expect a reasonable transfer by FOX. Besides the film, there are the original trailers which are a little grainy. Unfortunately, there are no extras on this DVD but the quality of the film makes it up. Overall, you will enjoy this movie for its chemistry between all three characters and also the deeper truth behind TV news which seems to be more showbiz than actual reporting.

This is quite simply a perfect film. It is about three REAL people in a somewhat messy love triangle, but it is so much better than any other movie in this genre because it doesn't stoop to stupid resolutions. The three main characters(Holly Hunter, William Hurt, Albert Brooks) are great at what they do, which is broadcast news, but they are terrible at matters of the heart. They always say the wrong thing at the wrong time, and because of that, we identify with them. When have any of us ever been absolutely perfect in the area of romance? The film is funny, sad and real. And Albert Brooks was absolutely robbed of his oscar in this role. It is his finest performance. If you are expecting by-the-numbers romance that you can see coming down fifth avenue, you will not enjoy this, but if you want to be touched by real people who try and fail at love, then this is the best film on the subject.

Broadcast News is one of those films that makes you feel like you've had a perfect meal. Its makes you feel content and grateful that a film could be so perfect. On the surface this is called a romantic-comedy, a genre muddied buy wittless trash like Picture Perfect but this film is as(for lack of a better word) deep as they come. Yes it is at times funny, but all three leads are very and even painfully real. Holly Hunter periodically disconnecting the phone, crying for a while and then giong back to work, sounds overtly cutsy, but as performed it somehow fits. Albert Brooks (in his best role) is a knock-out, he plays a reporter who is gifted/nuerotic/disposable and very much in love with Holly Hunter. He has this unforgettable speech about Tom(William Hurt) being the devil where he is "semi-serious" that manages to be over the top hilarious and unbearably sad. William Hurt, in his string of great 80s performance plays Tom, a man of low I.Q. but a deep understanding of life, he is the subject of Holly Hunters loathing and affection. These three set the stage for a perfect morality play, a realistic expose of life in network news, its politics and the cost career driven people have to pay. As a critique of network news, I liked this film better than Sidney Lumet's NETWORK becuase that film wet completely over the top in its final quarter, Broadcast News's approach on the other hand is through real characters that we can symphasise with. This is director James L.Brooks's best film. I can only count four he made, most recently As Good As It Gets.That film is just a lighthearted unrealistic if highly enjoyable comedy, and it does not nearly come close to the depth of this film. Broadcast News is a great film.