MovieChat Forums > Broadcast News (1987) Discussion > showing Tom had talent too

showing Tom had talent too

posted 14 years ago by dcronin-829-877562
2 replies | jump to latest

Seeing this years later it seemed like they were showing that Tom the ostensibly dim witted news anchor actually had some interesting talent. The scene where he handles the pressure of live delivery mixed with Holly feeding him info all the while appearing very collected seems to show he was in fact bringing some good stuff to the table. That in contrast to the other Albert Brooks falling apart completely doing the news...

I don't think I saw it this way when I first saw the movie years ago though.

[–] billyfsu20 13 years ago

I watched this again today after a long period of not seeing it and I agree that it was an integral part of what makes the characterization in this film so layered. Tom is certainly not in the same league intellectually with Jane and Aaron, but he wouldn't be rising up the corporate ladder without some arm of talent. It was a nice touch by Brooks when Tom does his first anchor job during the Libyan crisis to show that he's cool under pressure, joking with Jane up to the very last minute by pretending that his earpiece isn't working. No doubt he's a goof but his "performance" practices are what matters.

[–] tanncord 11 years ago

I thought his character was quite good, he was honest - up to a certain point, anyway - and, unlike Jane and Aaron, he had some social skills. They were just hopeless socially.