Movie · 1987 · Comedy, Romance · 2h 13m · R · English
Curator score: 8.8/10 (104.4K ratings)
It’s the story of their lives.
Overview
A high-strung news producer finds herself in a love triangle between a talented but self-doubting reporter and a charming news anchor who embodies the growing trivialization of news that she is determined to fight against.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.8/10
IMDb: 7.3/10
Letterboxd: 4.04/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
Metacritic: 84
TMDB: 6.8/10
Director
James L. Brooks
Production
Amercent Films, American Entertainment Partners L.P., Gracie Films, 20th Century Fox
Cast
Holly Hunter, William Hurt, Albert Brooks, Robert Prosky, Lois Chiles, Joan Cusack, Peter Hackes, Christian Clemenson, Jack Nicholson, Robert Katims, Ed Wheeler, Stephen Mendillo, Kimber Shoop, Dwayne Markee, Gennie James, Leo Burmester, Amy Brooks, Jane Welch, Jonathan Benya, Frank Doubleday
Curator Review
Verdict
A sharp, adult romantic comedy-drama with one of the great newsroom scripts and three exceptional lead performances. It’s funny, emotionally exacting, and unusually perceptive about ambition, integrity, and the cost of being the smartest person in the room.
Best for
viewers who like intelligent character-driven comedies
fans of newsroom and workplace stories
people who enjoy romantic triangles with real emotional stakes
audiences who appreciate fast, literate dialogue
viewers drawn to 1980s prestige comedies with bite
Skip if
you want a light or breezy rom-com
you dislike talky, performance-driven films
you prefer romance without professional or ethical conflict
you’re not interested in media-industry settings
Overview
Broadcast News is one of the great American adult comedies: funny, bruising, and deeply alive to the way intelligence can become both a gift and a trap. James L. Brooks turns a newsroom love triangle into a study of ambition, self-respect, and the uneasy line between sincerity and performance. The film’s emotional intelligence is matched by its precision; nearly every scene feels calibrated to reveal character through pressure.
Worth noting
Holly Hunter gives a career-defining performance as a producer trying to hold together her work, her ideals, and her feelings, while Albert Brooks and William Hurt form a perfect contrast between anxious authenticity and polished emptiness. The movie is romantic, but never sentimental about romance, and it understands that attraction often collides with principle in ways that don’t resolve neatly.
Bottom line
What lingers most is how modern it feels in its anxieties about media, image, and the erosion of seriousness. It’s a film about people who know too much, feel too much, and still can’t quite say the right thing at the right time. The result is sharp, humane, and quietly devastating.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Griffin Newman (5★) · 3766 likes
A movie about the burden of being smart enough to know that you'll never be truly happy.
Sean Gilman (5★) · 3546 likes
Get out while you can still cry.
Holly Hunter cries all through the film, though usually only at certain scheduled times and places. Until the end, when she chooses principle over desire.
Albert Brooks never cries, though his attack of flop sweat is essentially his whole body crying, telling him to escape.
William Hurt, with complete mastery over his body (and empty head), can manufacture tears on command.
demi adejuyigbe (5★) · 2417 likes
“It must be nice to always believe you know better, to always think you're the smartest person in the room.”“No, it’s awful.”
God, this movie is perfect. So unique! Never been repeated! Just so so so one-of-a-kind from the first moment. Ultimately a movie about a love triangle between a director, a writer, and an actor. Such a strong resolution too, you don’t know what you want for them until we get there and then you realize it wouldn’t… more
Lucy (4★) · 1172 likes
holly hunter in this movie is why the awooga cartoon sound effect was invented
demi adejuyigbe (4.5★) · 1111 likes
Oh my god I loved it!!! I knew it was a favorite of so many people's for so long and bought the Criterion on a whim ages ago figuring I'd like it, but I was just so immediately enamored with it. Three perfect lead performances, each so well-built and truly unique, it's just a wonderfully original romcom that still manages to feel like a romcom in the best ways. Holly Hunter is fucking outstanding, and so so funny– she has… more Oh my god I loved it!!! I knew it was a favorite of so many people's for so long and bought the Criterion on a whim ages ago figuring I'd like it, but I was just so immediately enamored with it. Three perfect lead performances, each so well-built and truly unique, it's just a wonderfully original romcom that still manages to feel like a romcom in the best ways. Holly Hunter is fucking outstanding, and so so funny– she has… more