Trumbo (2008)

As the story of a fierce, beleaguered individualist, 'Trumbo' is stirring and informative, though perhaps not as thorough as it could be.

Dalton Trumbo showed that it was possible, even within the Hollywood system, to deal seriously with issues like freedom and personal responsibility.

Although it glosses over a few relevant details, Trumbo also functions as a passionate defense of truth from a writer who embodied all of the virtues that America claims to value.

Of all the many narrative films and documentaries that have been made about the Hollywood blacklist, none has more intimately captured what it must have been like to live through that sordid time.

Trumbo was initiated by two of Trumbo's children, but their attempt to personalize the film isn't quite personal enough.

... a beautifully directed and passionate homage to the dignity of one man against the indignity of the times.

Askin's dramatic camera angles are somewhat awkward, but the superb performances and the words eventually win out.