‘Trumbo’ review: Bryan Cranston carries true Cold War story

Dalton Trumbo won an Oscar for writing the 1956 film “The Brave One” — a moniker that should have been bestowed on Trumbo himself. He didn’t personally accept the award until nearly 20 years later, because he wrote the movie under a pseudonym. Trumbo was one of the most outspoken of the Hollywood Ten, blacklisted for refusing to testify about Communist sympathizers during the Cold War panic that made the First Amendment its biggest victim. Imprisoned for 11 months and barred from working at the peak of his career, he stuck to his ideals when those around him were caving to the House Un-American Activities Committee.

This blot on American history is hardly a laugh-riot of a topic for modern audiences, but in the hands of director Jay Roach (“Meet the Fockers”), it’s got enough amusing moments to buoy a story that should never be forgotten. Top honors for making “Trumbo” a worthwhile trip go to Bryan Cranston, who perfectly embodies the witty, mustachioed, righteously bombastic screenwriter. Hunched over a typewriter in the bathtub while overindulging in lowballs and pills or having heart-to-hearts with wife, Cleo (Diane Lane), Cranston shows Trumbo’s public and private sides — giving full measure to his eccentricities without devolving into caricature. Strong showings by supporting players include an acidly charming, eternally behatted Hedda Hopper (Helen Mirren), the Hollywood gossip goddess who sided with the committee. Louis C.K. is appropriately understated as fellow blacklister Arlen Hird. The breakout performance award goes to Michael Stuhlbarg as actor Edward G. Robinson, a onetime Trumbo friend and ally who betrays him.

The movie’s primary flaw is spending not enough time recreating the HUAC hearings and too much on Trumbo’s family life, and it ultimately unspools into a typical let’s-wrap-up-this-life series of scenes. If those moments bring on fidgeting, you can always focus on Daniel Orlandi’s costumes. Trumbo’s print short-sleeve shirts, Cleo’s summer dresses and Hedda’s suits will get even the most casual consumer of vintage clothes pining.