Bryan Cranston Gives Career-High Performance In Overlooked True Story On Max
In the years following Breaking Bad‘s thrilling conclusion, my friends and I, like everyone else on Earth, were completely obsessed with Walter White actor Bryan Cranston. Obviously the hit crime series proved to audiences far and wide that Cranston had the uncanny ability to bring dramatic roles to life, and casting directors had taken notice. As a result, films such as 2015’s Trumbo were must-watch cinema in our friend group, despite the fact that the movie seems to have been entirely forgotten in the near-decade since its release.
Bryan Cranston After Breaking Bad
While it may not have had the staying power of some of Cranston’s other post-Breaking Bad works, Trumbo is a spectacular biopic, centered around one of the greatest screenwriters of the 20th century during one of the most tumultuous times in Hollywood history. The film was penned by Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman writer John McNamara and directed by Jay Roach, who had previously helmed the Austin Powers film trilogy, as well as a number of other hilarious comedies.
All-Star Cast Causing Controversy
Bryan Cranston stars in the film as the eponymous Dalton Trumbo, alongside a cast which includes Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, Alan Tudyk, Dan Bakkedahl, Michael Stuhlbarg, John Goodman, and disgraced stand-up comedian Louis C.K. The film centers on Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dalton Trumbo as he and several other elite writers become the source of a great deal of controversy due to their alleged communist views.
A Cold War Conundrum
Just as the Cold War kicks into high gear, the House Committee on un-American Activities begins banning left-leaning writers from working in Hollywood, on the grounds that they may use their media platform to espouse spooky communist talking points to impressionable audiences.
Hollywood mainstays such as John Wayne are among the most vocal supporters of the Hollywood Blacklist, which puts Trumbo and his friends out of a job and unable to survive in a country that maligns them as traitors. Trumbo himself is even sent to prison for a year, further staining his reputation and making him completely radioactive to corporate interests.
From Blacklist To Blockbusters
Despite his critical praise and catalogue of hit films under his belt, Dalton Trumbo is unable to sell his screenplay for the film that we now know as 1953’s Roman Holiday. Instead of sitting on it, Trumbo gives the script to Ian McClellan Hunter, who takes full credit for the project in order to protect the blacklisted writer’s identity. Before long, Trumbo cooks up a scheme to continue working under various pseudonyms, penning such hit films as Spartacus and Exodus for low-budget studios who take a major gamble on him.
Cranston’s Best Post-Breaking Bad Performance
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The film may not have become a cultural mainstay, but Bryan Cranston‘s leading performance in Trumbo is jam-packed with emotional complexity, truly making it one for the history books. I would even argue that this film contains his best dramatic performance outside of Breaking Bad, edging out other popular films like All the Way and The Infiltrator. For anyone interested in checking Trumbo out today, the film is currently available to stream on Max.
