What the film lacks in visual flair it more than makes up for with the sharpest script (dare I say it?) of the year. Funny, smart and featuring what might just be Philip Seymour Hoffman’s best monologue yet. The ending can use some fine tuning and I’m not quite sure what they were going for with those battle montages, but this is as close to a Network as you are likely to see in a theater for a while. A strong recommendation.
As I find your movie opinions simpatico with my own most of the time, I have to ask: are you now or have you ever been a fan of Aaron Sorkin, the TV vet who scripted this thing? I can’t stand the man’s writing and find him one of the most reprehensible elements in contemporary entertainment (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out the laughable abomination that was STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET TRIP–or better yet, don’t). Anyway, I’d expect a Sorkin fan to dig this film, and could then easily dismiss (no offense, as I generally enjoy your site and reviews) the recommendation. But if you live in a Sorkin-free zone and still think highly of this, I might give it a shot.
I was a fan of the West Wing, yes. I never saw his other stuff.