MovieGuyFunTime

This is such a great and timely film. It is very important, in my opinion, to be sure to view the original first. If not, some things may not make sense or at least not be as impactful.

It is a allegorical tale representing the mindless 'cancel culture' we are in today where if you aren't extremely careful, the evil culture warriors will get you. However, in the end evil is always defeated.

Other than a few fairly predictable 'jump-scares', this is a great achievement and superb commentary on our times.

This is a very good film with excellent performances. It is fascinating to see the same dynamics at work today in Hollywood/Media as they were then: same evil and fear and hysteria- only under a different name with different players. Then it was the patriotic American's fight against 'Red Scare' of Communism while today it is the Communist Hollywood's fight against the patriotic American. Not quite as simple as all that but essentially the tables have turned over the course of 70 years.

The best aspect of this film for me was Trumbo's tireless and cunning fight against the 'mob' of the government and most of the Hollywood establishment who would ignore the constitutional right to free speech and free assembly when they believed that the 'threat' became high enough to toss Constitutional liberties out the window (see any similarities today?).

Anyway, this is a powerful message and it comes through very effectively in the film. However, the greatest flaw (and sin) of the film is its negative portrayal of John Wayne. At one point in the film, Trumbo confronts John Wayne (the super patriot) and questions why he hasn't served in the military while many of Trumbo's closest (Communist) friends and business associates did serve in the war. This scene is presented to make John Wayne look like a hypocrite and a coward.

While it is true John Wayne did not 'officially' serve in uniform other than in films, he did try to enlist. He was, rejected for health reasons. He was already too old to enlist also. Yet he was adamant about serving in some capacity regardless and continued to try to get in. He was also under contract with a studio which refused to release him and in the government's estimation, John Wayne was much more valuable to the cause as a morale-booster by making pro-America war films and making public appearances. Furthermore, after much wrangling with the studio AND the government, John Wayne ultimately was able to serve as a covert agent (spy), taking advantage of his ability to go into locations around the world for 'filming' that were off limits to others. These were effectively 'intelligence missions' under the guise of location scouting and film producing. Through his operations on location, in local towns and traveling to and from these areas, he gathered a great deal of information using cameras and conversation with locals to collect details about enemy activity which he routinely supplied to the Department of Defense. Enemy agents knew he was doing this and he was always under the threat of assassination, so much so that he would eventually come to occupy the top spot on the enemy's list of assassination targets. The Communists badly wanted him dead. Just because he did not wear a uniform and fight in the trenches, doesn't mean he didn't fight or that his life was never in peril.

So, John Wayne did more for the war effort (pound for pound) than probably 95% or more of any American at that time- including Trumbo or any of his buddies who served. Yet, in the scene mentioned above, obviously John Wayne couldn't discuss his involvement in the war because it was top secret. Yet that is no good reason to justify including the scene knowing that he couldn't talk about his operations when challenged by Trumbo. The scene simply should not have been in the film. It served no material purpose other than to slander a great American hero... which is so fashionable to do these days even if it exposes the slanderer's ignorance, stupidity and hypocrisy.

It is incredibly uncharitable and hypocritical to paint John Wayne in the light that this film does given that it is ostensibly about the dangers of falsely and maliciously slandering and labeling people for the sake of power and political gain, I find it incredibly ironic that the film takes such a strong stance regarding how bad it is to participate in this kind of hysterical and unwarranted character assassination yet the film itself is blatantly guilty of it.

Another conveniently overlooked issue with the film is its benign and overly-simplistic take on communism itself. The 'explanation' of what being a 'Communist' is when Trumbo is questioned by his little girl is understandably simplistic but also wrong. "If you see a fellow student in the lunch room who has no lunch, what do you do?" Trumbo asks his daughter. Of course the good-natured, innocent and loving creature says, "I give him half of my lunch." However, that is not how Communism works in practice even though the theory on its face is one of benevolence and kindness. It assumes first that every one will be benevolent and kind and give up half their lunch to anyone who doesn't have a lunch... even to those who's parents decide not to bother with buying the food and making up the lunches because they know some other kid at school will share theirs. Pretty soon, most of the kids aren't bringing any lunch at all and the few kids who are still bringing their lunches are compelled by their kindness (or duty) to bring much larger lunches so as to be able to feed more and more kids who expect some other kid's parents to feed them.

Eventually, the parents of those few kids feeding all the others get tired of paying for other kids' lunches and instead of being appreciative for all those free lunches in the past, they are ridiculed and demonized for "being cruel" for not continuing to "share" their food. Then the principal says he will collect all lunches at the entrance every morning for 'equal' distribution of their contents at lunch time to all students. Whatever the principal manages to collect he distributes maybe 10% of it to the kids at lunch time... just enough to keep them from starving. He keeps the other 90% for himself and his cronie school staff as 'compensation' for their troubles administering the new 'progressive' lunch program. That's how communism works.

This is a good movie with good acting, great action (which doesn't overwhelm the story) and well-developed characters. It tells an obscure story about Bruce Lee that few know about. It also truthfully shows Bruce Lee in his full cockiness and unapologetic quest for fame and fortune in America by selling his most valuable asset- Kung Fu. Bruce Lee was an egomaniac and an opportunist. This film explores this side of the man which is often under-acknowledged or outright rejected by his rabid fan base. Face it, Bruce Lee wouldn't have been Bruce Lee without BRUCE LEE.

The introduction of Jack Man is an interesting character with a great back story. While the writers *likely* took some liberties with his motivations, I found the interaction between the two main characters to be very compelling, engaging and unexpectedly profound.

The haters will hate for whatever reasons. Put aside their shallow, narrowly-defined expectations of what a Bruce Lee movie *should* be, and it is a very enjoyable experience. If you are a drooling worshiper of Bruce Lee, you will likely be somewhat disappointed with his portrayal in this film, although I dare say, it is probably more accurate as to his true character than anything else put on screen about the man.