How others will see it. This movie is an audience pleaser, partly because it is a convincing depiction of a big-time newsroom, but mostly because our three leads have interesting characters and relationships. The message behind the film, which I will explore shortly, won't be as interesting to most as the romances. Will Hunter ever get to sleep with Hurt? Does Hurt have any sexual interest in anyone, or does he prefer to stare at his own relection in a mirror? Will Brooks ever obtain respect, or at least a dependable love interest? Look how cute Holly Hunter is! Look, there's Jack Nicholson! He's the network anchor!
How I felt about it. Albert Brooks has a perfect role as the everyman who seems slightly out of rhythm with his surroundings. As a reporter in the field, Brooks is exemplary. In a social situation, he's awkward, because he doesn't care to make the false conversation necessary to charm the dubious. Telling the truth merely alienates his audience. Hunter is his only confidant, partly because they are both educated and intelligent, but mostly because they share the same concern about the future of television journalism.
The television journalist was once represented by the likes of Edward R. Murrow or Walter Cronkite. A serious, white, middle-aged man who knows his subject thoroughly, and had a centrist bias that subtly bled into his reporting.
But networks do not exist to cater solely to intellectuals, who constitute a tiny minority of the audience. They are businesses that require advertising revenue, which is in turn dependent upon ratings to drum up sponsors. This means getting a mass audience, which means entertaining. Fluff or gossip substitutes for hard news, and style trumps substance.
This is where the anti-Brooks, William Hurt, steps in. Hurt knows little about what he reports on, but he doesn't have to, since he can always be fed his next line by Hunter. And he looks and sounds good on television, a rare gift in a stressful profession. Hurt is going to have Brooks for lunch, and he'll steal his would-be girlfriend, as well.
It's no surprise, then, that Brooks secretly detests Hurt, and calls him "the devil." He's jealous, because Hurt's talents are exactly those that he's missing. And those talents are the only ones that matter in the entertainment era of news. Dan Rather, there's the door. Katie Couric, take the chair. The plastic surgery still looks great.