Review of Network (64)

Plot
Howard Beale, the aging UBS news anchor, is fired after losing his once strong ratings share. Beale reacts in an unexpected way which affects the fortunes of Beale, his coworkers, and the network.  

Jason's Thoughts
Network is usually thought of as a black comedy about the cut throat television industry and what it will stoop to for ratings, however, it is almost prophetic in what it gets right.

One of the things I enjoyed the most about Network was how ahead of its time it was.  I wasn't born yet when this movie was released, but I do know that television has dramatically changed since I was a young kid growing up.  I can only imagine that people felt that this movie was farfetched and too over the top when it was released.

What was once thought of as extreme and excessive in the mid 70s is now tame in today's standards.  Think about it - reality TV, 24-hour news stations and channels dedicated to courtroom drama.  Today, people want to know the dirt about everything at a moments notice and will eat it up no matter how ugly it gets.  You have to look no further than the OJ Simpson trials, the shootings at Columbine High School or the death of Michael Jackson for examples of that.

Suddenly a television show filmed by a radical group of terrorists, like the one portrayed in Network, doesn't seem too farfetched.  Thirty years later, it is almost spot on.

That's not to say that everything about Network worked in my opinion. Most of the characters, while represented in a true corporate television fashion, were too vile or shallow to even remotely like or relate to.  They also have a tendency to all shout out long winded rants that begin to get on ones nerves after a while.

Overall I thought Network was a good movie, although I don't know if I'd place it in a list as one of the best ever made.  Network is definitely a movie that I would like to revisit again down to line as I think it would get better with multiple viewings.  It may take just that to fully appreciate this movie.

Crystal's Thoughts
Fear not readers of our blog.  My resolution for 2010 includes finishing our 100 top movie list and also to blog more.  However, I am going to struggle with this review as I believe it has been nearly two months since we watched this movie.  I apologize and promise to you all, we'll get better and finish this thing!

Being the TV and news fanatic I am, I was looking forward to watching Network.  It certainly didn't let me down as the movie proved to be way ahead of its time.  I cannot imagine how controversial something like that happening at that time would have been.  Now of course, there is no surprise in it.  I think about that a lot as we progress through these movies, how much things have changed since the movie was made or try to think about how it would have been perceived at the time it premiered.  Though maybe no one thought anything of it as I really don't feel this happens now with movies.  It would be interesting to sit down and speak with movie buffs of those days just to see if it really wasn't a big deal as we think of movies now or if perception too has changed along with films.

Parts of the film didn't seem relevant, which would be my only major issue with the film.  Sometimes you thought what does that have to do with anything?  I also wasn't fond of how Howard Beale's true condition, a mentally unstable man, was portrayed.  Thankfully times have changed there, and people as such are no longer marked as raging lunatics that we poke fun at any more.

Minus those two gripes, I feel the screenplay was nicely written.  It kept the viewer intrigued and unlike many movies of before, it didn't drag to the point where you just wanted it to end.  The acting was also powerful and a delight to watch, the cast making you laugh and feel compassion all at once, the compassion coming in to play as you see how a conglomerate would do anything to get ahead of the game, or in this case, stay afloat.  If you are a news/TV junkie, I highly recommend this film.

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