#727) Broadcast News (1987)

#727) Broadcast News (1987)

OR “Human Interest Piece”

Directed & Written by James L. Brooks

Class of 2018

Other notes

• Shoutout to Susan Zirinsky, the real-life CBS News producer that served as the film’s technical advisor. Both Zirinsky and Brooks have stated that while there are elements of Zirinsky in Jane, the character is a composite of several women that Brooks interviewed during his research. Zirinsky is credited as one of the film’s associate producers, and appears onscreen as one of the senior news officials on the control room monitors. 
• In true classic movie tradition, all three of our leads are charming enough to distract from how awfully their characters behave. First off, Holly Hunter was cast in this movie two days before production began (Debra Winger bowed out due to pregnancy). Hunter filmed this after her other breakout role in “Raising Arizona”, and anyone who saw both performances could tell you we had a star on our hands, with Hunter gamely navigating the broad comedy of “Arizona” and the subtler dramatics in “Broadcast”. William Hurt brings a Golden Retriever energy to Tom; dumb as a brick but eager to please. And Albert Brooks threads the smallest needle of the three; Aaron is simultaneously relatable and repellant, and Brooks keeps him watchable even at his lowest points. It’s also worth noting that while Albert Brooks is in the NFR as an actor (this and “Taxi Driver”), his work as a director or writer has yet to be included. And no, Albert Brooks is of no relation to James L. Brooks: Albert’s real last name is Einstein (no relation to him, either).
• I first attempted to watch “Broadcast News” about 15 years ago, and I turned it off; I just couldn’t get through it. Watching it again now, I think what threw me the last time was the subtlety of it all. Everything about this movie is opaque; no one ever says what they want to say, they talk around it and struggle to articulate anything. It also helps that I am now about the same age as these characters and have experienced some of the personal and professional growing pains that they have. I could relate to the subtleties much more easily this time.
• This film boasts a terrific supporting cast; from Robert Prosky as the fatherly bureau chief to Joan Cusack as the harried assistant director frantically running through the halls to get a video delivered by airtime. And of course, that is Jack Nicholson lending his star power to an extended cameo as the national news anchor. He’s clearly doing this as a favor to Brooks; going uncredited until the end and allegedly playing the part for free. I appreciate the restraint Nicholson gives in this performance; he knows that just him being there carries enough dramatic weight.

• Tom’s first live broadcast is an exhilarating watch, with Jane guiding Tom through the chaos from the control booth, while Aaron drunkenly calls in from home (“I say it here, it comes out there.”). This scene is also a tour-de-force for the film’s sound team, with dialogue and technology crisscrossing throughout the sequence.

• Let the record show I recognized composer/Oscar parody lyricist Marc Shaiman on sight during his quick appearance as the musician (along with Glen Roven) who pitches an intro theme for the news. Big finish!

• The height difference between Holly Hunter (who is about 5’ 2”) and every other actor in the movie comes across in a few scenes; Joan Cusack in particular seems to tower over Hunter at 5’ 9”. As the film goes on you start to notice all the little cheats to get Hunter at eye-level with her co-stars (standing on a stairwell, sitting down while William Hurt is on his knees, etc.)
• The funniest (and most relatable) scene in the movie is Aaron, finally getting his chance to anchor the news, sweating profusely under the studio lights. Having done my share of theater, I know what it’s like to be upstaged by your own biology, and the scene plays it for the right amount of laughs; funny without being torturous. The scene also produces my favorite line in the movie: one of the technicians watching the broadcast declaring, “This is more than Nixon ever sweated.”

• The third act is when things start to lose momentum for me. Aaron and Jane have a big confrontation scene that shifts into full-on drama a little too jarringly (though we do get the second-best line in the movie: “How do you like that? I buried the lede.”). Then the layoffs start happening at the station and it all plays out like a more somber variation of the “Mary Tyler Moore” finale. Also making their NFR debut in this scene: the back of John Cusack’s head as the messenger who shouts, “Sons of bitches!” as he is laid off.

• According to Brooks, “Broadcast News” was filmed sequentially and without a scripted ending, allowing Brooks to decide who Jane would end up with based on his performers’ natural chemistry. A semi-improvised ending of Jane and Tom getting together was filmed but scrapped, so Brooks quickly wrote the film’s eventual ending, an epilogue where our leads, having gone their separate ways personally and professionally, reunite seven years in the future. I have been racking my brain trying to figure out why this ending didn’t work for me, and I think it’s the paradoxical answer of nothing being resolved, even though that kind of ending would have been a complete betrayal of the rest of this movie. While I ultimately justified this ending in a “life goes on” kind of way, it still doesn’t jive with the rest of the movie. On the plus side, shoutout to Holly Hunter’s hairstylist for presciently nailing what a circa 1994 haircut would look like.
• My last bit of disappointment was that despite this being a Gracie Films production (its first, in fact), “Broadcast News” doesn’t end with their logo and the “Shh” lady.

Legacy

• “Broadcast News” opened in December 1987 and was a financial and critical hit. The film grossed over four times its budget and appeared on more critics’ year-end top ten lists than any other movie in 1987. Since then, “Broadcast” has appeared on the AFI list of 100 funniest movies and is widely considered James L. Brooks’ best film.
• James L. Brooks’ follow-up to “Broadcast News” was 1994’s “I’ll Do Anything”; a movie whose production woes are too elaborate to mention here but worth looking into. Brooks would go on to direct “As Good as It Gets”, “Spanglish”, and “How Do You Know”, with his next film – “Ella McCay” – slated for release in 2025. Brooks has kept busy over the years with his production company Gracie Films, producing among others “Big”, “Say Anything…”, “Bottle Rocket”, and his biggest money maker, “The Simpsons”.