Robert Duvall Movie:

Editorial Review:
Media madness reigns supreme in screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky's scathing satire about the uses and abuses of network television. But while Chayefsky's and director Sidney Lumet's take on television may seem quaint in the age of "reality TV" and Jerry Springer's talk-show fisticuffs, it's every bit as potent now as it was when the film was released in 1976. And because Chayefsky was one of the greatest of all dramatists, his Oscar-winning script about the ratings frenzy at the cost of cultural integrity is a showcase for powerhouse acting by Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and Beatrice Straight (who each won Oscars), and Oscar nominee William Holden in one of his finest roles. Finch plays a veteran network anchorman who's been fired because of low ratings. His character's response is to announce he'll kill himself on live television two weeks hence. What follows, along with skyrocketing ratings, is the anchorman's descent into insanity, during which he fervently rages against the medium that made him a celebrity. Dunaway plays the frigid, ratings-obsessed producer who pursues success with cold-blooded zeal; Holden is the married executive who tries to thaw her out during his own seething midlife crisis. Through it all, Chayefsky (via Finch) urges the viewer to repeat the now-famous mantra "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore!" to reclaim our humanity from the medium that threatens to steal it away. --Jeff Shannon

Network Reviews:
Not Just Relevant, The Truth
2009-12-04 - 1976's Network is the masterpiece of the underrated and under-awarded Sidney Lumet. Undoubtedly, the film is known for the crazed yet truthful Howard Beale "I'm mad as hell" speech which has since been turned into a slogan, punchline and cultural benchmark. Yet, Network reveals more truth about American society, the media and the TV-dominated generational gap between "old school" and "new school" than any other film. Network is set during an economic recession, record inflation, the end of Vietnam and the gestation of the Watergate scandal and Gerald Ford's predictable yet costly pardoning of his former President Richard M. Nixon. In a time of political and social unrest (similar to now in certain extents), the media began its trajectory as the dominate source of information, entertainment and appeasement. Howard Beale (played beautifully by the late Australian actor Peter Finch who collected an Oscar posthumously) is a struggling news personality whose collection of firing, alcoholism and mental breakdown has resulted in an uncanny awareness of the effects of the media on politics, religion, culture, society, art and humanity. Beale initially sabotages himself but eventually finds himself as a tool of a money-devoted corporate boss Frank Hackett (played by Robert Duvall) and a media-obsessed Diana Christensen (played by Faye Dunaway) whose generational upbringing disconnects her from reality while distorting her view of life events as strategic media creativity.

However, Beale's effect on the American household viewer is far more powerful than they expected. Beale's message honestly depicts the media for what it truly is... a lie. Beale's message reveals the media has unparalleled control of the audience as if it were a God... one we are actually faithful to. The 21st Century media has widely expanded upon the media of the 1970s as information spreads faster and the world is much smaller. In today's media, privacy does not exist, respect is an archaic terminology, humanity is an evening catchphrase, and nothing and no one is off limits. Before our eyes we have watched murder, death and tragedy as evening entertainment. We continually watch families destroy themselves (Kate and Jon Gosselin), we watch people kill themselves (Michael Jackson), exploit mediocrity (American Idol, America's Got Talent, Rock Star) and use private quarrels as poster-child issues (Rihanna, Chris Brown). We televise God while invoking his "spirit" into unworthy men of fallibility such as Jerry Falwell, Pat Robinson, Joel Osteen or Rick Warren.

We confide in devices that keep us complicit as we log onto our gadgets to check the status of a friend in the bathroom or texting unlimited pointless information from one person to the next. Our movies, music and video games are kept violent and sexual enough to educate, stimulate and exacerbate our thoughts, desires and fantasies. We convert revolutions and good ideas into marketing campaigns, consumerism and globalization. We substitute reality with fiction as we simply get our information from a convenient source that tells us the propaganda we want to hear. Yet, right under our noses, we're being bought, sold and auctioned by big business and their puppet politicians. As a human species, we're dying internally without knowing or caring. Network captures this perfectly. And once Beale is given the real truth that there is no "America" or "democracy" and that nations of world are those of the Rockefellers, the DuPonts and the Gettys, Beale is sold into submission like the rest of us.

Network is different in most films as it doesn't just exposes not media or the wealthy. It exposes us, the people as complicit with the greatest theft of all... our humanity, our reasoning and our sanity. Howard Beale lost his, we must regain ours. Rarely is a film so relevant and timeless as Network. Don't take it lightly at all because it is the truth in the most simplest of terms. Several of the concepts in Network are what Oliver Stone was attempting to portray with 1987's Wall Street, 1991's JFK and satirically with 1994's Natural Born Killers. Network succeeds on all levels. The Truman Show, The Insider and Good Night and Good Luck all bear the Network mark.

Who knew this was apocalyptic literature?
2009-10-29 - Inside a smoky screening room.


STUDIO HEAD
So what do we want to call it?

LACKEY
I was thinking The Political Economy of Network Television: a Cautionary Tale.

SH
Nah. People might figure out it's a political flick. Network sounds snappy.

LACKEY
You're absolutely right, sir.

SH
Besides, if they're paying attention they'll figure it out anyway.


Uproarious laughter from SH and LACKEY as scene fades to black.

***

Apparently some people think the American moviegoing public will only drink politics if it's mixed with Kool-Aid (Kool-Aid being espionage, gangsterism, or neat biopics). Not so here! Sidney Lumet presents Paddy Chayefsky's screenplay the way it was meant to be: urgent, satirical, and spot-on. This one wears its political guts on the outside, dissecting the anatomy of network television and the relationship between it and the sensationalist acts of the ultraleft groups of the period.

In this respect it bears an eerie resemblance to Fassbinder's The Third Generation. But where Fassbinder targets the RAF, Lumet and Chayefsky take aim at the newsmakers. Person by person you see how the quest for ratings (and thus profits) warps people like worn-out gears.

But be warned: comparing this film with the state of TV today may cause you to echo Howard Beale: "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"


A Prescient Folly
2009-10-07 - When I first saw Paddy Chayefsky's media splash film "Network," I remember thinking how sad it would be should the news media, particularly the T.V. Broadcast News Media, ever fall so low as to turn the news into a media circus: i.e., news as Entertainment.
That was over 30 years ago, and as folks say: That was then, this is now. These days it is difficult to tell the difference between news and entertainment. A few hours watching FOX news blurs the line between commentary and news, and Commentary is nothing more than vitriolic venom spewed onto the choir of self-same fear-mongering hate filled hoards.
In other words, I love "Network," because it helps to frame the weird world we live in and says something about the fools we have become.

Great acting + witty dialog.
2009-09-12 - A bit dated only because its message has become more obvious, and recognized by more people - and yet, the media (especially the news) continues degeneration. Hence, it remains totally relevant today. The 2-disc edition is definitely preferred, and the feature-length commentary is excellent. Lumet's directing of the characters was incredible, making them fully credible. Some characters seem a bit over the top - Ned Beatty's Jensen in particular, but given some of the top CEO's antics I've seen over the past couple of years, even his motivational speech to Finch doesn't seem unlikely.
Definitely to be highly recommended

Can You Believe It Has Really Happened?
2009-08-21 - With all these reviews of this great film I only have one comment: can you believe that it has really happened? Back when this film debuted objective journalism and TV news was still a real option. There were still broadcast journalists. The idea that news would become just a sideshow of entertainment, propaganda, and misrepresenting to garner ratings was considered satire. But it really happened. Just turn on MSNBC. Sunday Morning political news. Reality TV shows. Forget the evening news - it doesn't exist anymore. Barbara Walters? A shill on the View. Channel your inner Howard Beale - "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!" Open your windows. Let me hear you in Queens!

PS - One of the greatest American films ever. I'm not sure if it's greater than "Citizen Kane" or "The Godfather" but it's pretty darn good. Worth owning. Worth seeing again. Now more than ever.