Trumbo
Bleecker Street Media | Release Date: November 6, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
12
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
EmpireDan JolinFeb 1, 2016
It feels terrestrial rather than cinematic, but the joy of Trumbo is in the heroism of its subject and an amazing performance from Cranston. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottNov 25, 2015
Trumbo isn't monotonous, but it falls short of genius. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfNov 4, 2015
Trumbo goes for a tone that’s more scrappy and inspirational, as this ousted ex-A-lister enlists his kids as couriers, builds a network of collaborators and wins two Academy Awards undercover. Read full review
60
The GuardianHenry BarnesSep 16, 2015
[Jay Roach] wants the film to be fun, while the story is serious. It’s a good idea and an admirable intention. But it does suffer the odd wobble. Read full review
60
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 16, 2015
Trumbo may be clumsy and overly simplistic at times, but it’s still an important reminder of how democracy can fail (that is, when a fervent majority turns on those with different and potentially threatening values), and the strength of character it takes to fight the system. Read full review
58
HitfixGregory EllwoodSep 16, 2015
Cranston has his moments and you have to laud his attention to detain in channeling Trumbo’s unique voice and mannerisms. Unfortunately, he’s so committed that his character borders on being a caricature. Read full review
58
IndieWireKate ErblandSep 16, 2015
Trumbo works well enough as a general survey of Trumbo's life and career, a primer on a complicated man who endured a terrible injustice, but it fails to really engage with the material, to dig deep for significant themes and salient meanings Read full review
50
Slant MagazineSteve MacfarlaneNov 4, 2015
Like Jay Roach's Game Change and Recount, the film's patina of relative apoliticism masks (or enables) its blandness of inquiry. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesNov 18, 2015
Trumbo certainly has pep. Theodore Shapiro’s jazzy score doesn’t just boast a tom-tom – you could choreograph it with pom-poms. Maybe Roach worried that general audiences wouldn’t cotton to a yellowing story about the Red Menace, so he ginned it up with a jazz-hands idea of midcentury Hollywood, with everyone mugging like it’s a lobby-card photo shoot Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriNov 12, 2015
Trumbo is a film that at times can’t seem to decide what it wants to be. At its worst, it’s musty and awkward; at its best, it’s irreverent and funny. Unfortunately, it settles for the former more than the latter. Read full review
40
The New York TimesManohla DargisNov 5, 2015
It’s impossible to tell if the filmmakers don’t trust the audience or simply don’t have the chops, guts or heart to do this story justice. Read full review
40
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlNov 3, 2015
The film fails as a portrait, and it's not much better at drama. Read full review
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