Network, 50 Weeks/50 Films

From Lee Anne:
I thought this film was incredibly interesting. The story drew me in so well as I watched lives crumble in the wake of TV ratings.
Unbelievable, yet it feels so real; that that’s how the industry works.
And it felt more honest than most stories we encounter about the media these days.

Overall, I think it was a film worth watching, once. It’s certainly not one I’d watch over & over again.
I give it 3.5 stars.

From John:
There’s no biz like showbiz. And in this story we see the extremes to which corporate run television studios will go to make money.

Although there were some funny moments most of the movie was really a statement on how bad the profit oriented news business in America has become. The sense of doing the right thing and presenting a balance viewpoint becomes totally overrun by the goal of becoming the highest share in the nightly ratings. One of the main characters is a news anchor that is going to be fired until he starts using his show to vent his opinions using explicit language (a big no on TV). Instead of firing him they promote him and give him a show dedicated to his rants about society. This works until his ratings drop. Without giving away the ending he is removed from this show and the network quickly after the ratings drop.

The acting in this film wasn’t really the best, most of the performances were over the top without being very believable. Still the subject matter and plot twists boosted my interest throughout the story. Without any real gauge, I think the directing and screenplay made this the film it was.  Camera work was great – giving us a feeling of strange tension between the real world and the TV world that was being presented to the TV viewers.

Overall this is a film I would recommend. Be forewarned there is some cursing but it’s not pervasive enough to warrant skipping the story being presented.

What do you think about TV news? Is there anything objective being reported or are we all being served? Tell us in the comments!