"Network" is hard to describe.
It's not hard to see why Sidney Lumet's acidic tirade about American news networks caused a sensation back when it was released. The famous refrain that becomes the mantra of Peter Finch's character, a news anchor who has lost his stomach for the kind of crap he's asked to spew out night after night and decides to do something about it, is "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore!" This could have been the refrain for America at large in 1976, after assassinations, a failed military conflict and political scandals had pretty much decimated any faith Americans still had in their nation. The fact that that same phrase could be a refrain for America today shows how ahead of its time and relevant this movie was and is. The story seemed outrageous then. Finch's character decides that he's going to kill himself on network television, and the network chief, played by Faye Dunaway in a blistering ball-buster performance, rather than react in horror, sees only the potential for sky-high ratings and a boost to her career. Sadly, in this age of reality television and sensationalistic journalism, the premise no longer seems very outrageous.
So as a satire I think "Network" holds up expertly, but as a movie, I think it shows its age. Paddy Chayefsky, who wrote the screenplay, stages the film's action as a series of monologues and speeches, and the overall result can be a bit tedious, like a film version of an essay. The writing feels like it might work better on stage than on screen. But Sidney Lumet, who was coming off a high with "Dog Day Afternoon" the year before, happens to be a director who's always had a knack for giving stagey material a cinematic quality, so he's perfectly matched with Chayefsky. And there are no quibbles with the acting. Finch and Dunaway are fierce and get the showiest moments, but Robert Duvall and William Holden, in quieter roles, do outstanding work as well. Ned Beatty and Beatrice Straight give two of the smallest Oscar-nominated performances ever. Both each have essentially one scene, but both do quite memorable things with them, and Beatty's in particular is one of the most grotesquely fascinating cameos ever captured on film.
An essential film from the 1970s whose impact is blunted now only because the film was so prophetic. How many movies can you say that about?
Grade: A
It's not hard to see why Sidney Lumet's acidic tirade about American news networks caused a sensation back when it was released. The famous refrain that becomes the mantra of Peter Finch's character, a news anchor who has lost his stomach for the kind of crap he's asked to spew out night after night and decides to do something about it, is "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore!" This could have been the refrain for America at large in 1976, after assassinations, a failed military conflict and political scandals had pretty much decimated any faith Americans still had in their nation. The fact that that same phrase could be a refrain for America today shows how ahead of its time and relevant this movie was and is. The story seemed outrageous then. Finch's character decides that he's going to kill himself on network television, and the network chief, played by Faye Dunaway in a blistering ball-buster performance, rather than react in horror, sees only the potential for sky-high ratings and a boost to her career. Sadly, in this age of reality television and sensationalistic journalism, the premise no longer seems very outrageous.
So as a satire I think "Network" holds up expertly, but as a movie, I think it shows its age. Paddy Chayefsky, who wrote the screenplay, stages the film's action as a series of monologues and speeches, and the overall result can be a bit tedious, like a film version of an essay. The writing feels like it might work better on stage than on screen. But Sidney Lumet, who was coming off a high with "Dog Day Afternoon" the year before, happens to be a director who's always had a knack for giving stagey material a cinematic quality, so he's perfectly matched with Chayefsky. And there are no quibbles with the acting. Finch and Dunaway are fierce and get the showiest moments, but Robert Duvall and William Holden, in quieter roles, do outstanding work as well. Ned Beatty and Beatrice Straight give two of the smallest Oscar-nominated performances ever. Both each have essentially one scene, but both do quite memorable things with them, and Beatty's in particular is one of the most grotesquely fascinating cameos ever captured on film.
An essential film from the 1970s whose impact is blunted now only because the film was so prophetic. How many movies can you say that about?
Grade: A