Tonight's Movie: Broadcast News (1987)

I hadn't seen BROADCAST NEWS since it first came out. It was fun to see it again, having forgotten most of it in the intervening years. The film tells the story of life in a Washington, D.C., TV newsroom, focusing on a smooth but dumb anchor (William Hurt), a tightly wound producer (Holly Hunter), and the reporter who's probably the sanest person in the newsroom (Albert Brooks).

On the whole it's an entertaining comedy, though I would have liked a more conventionally happy ending.

One of the stranger moments, given what has transpired since the film was made, was the producer and reporter joking about all the morning news shows carrying interviews with Arnold Schwarzenegger. In the context of current history, Arnold would definitely be "news" to those characters, so that scene dated the film a bit -- as did those '80s hairstyles and shoulder pads!

The supporting cast includes Robert Prosky, Lois Chiles, Joan Cusack, and Jack Nicholson in a small but funny role as the network's star anchorman. The film runs 131 or 133 minutes, depending on the reference. It was directed by James L. Brooks.

It's available on both DVD and VHS. It's also part of the Fox Movie Channel library.