The film debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and includes film clips and interviews, readings from Trumbo's letters by performers such as Michael Douglas, Joan Allen, Donald Sutherland, Liam Neeson, and Paul Giamatti, and a reenactment by David Strathairn of a speech given by Dalton Trumbo in 1970.[2] The readings include parts of what the New York Times calls "Dalton Trumbo's remarkably stage-ready personal letters"[2] that cover the period from the late 1940s to the early 1960s. Interspersed with these are archival clips from the HUAC hearings, footage from home movies, and "exceptionally well-selected interview clips with Trumbo".[3]
Reception
Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 82% of 55 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 6.8/10. The site's consensus reads: "Trumbo celebrates the life and work of blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo with measures of humor and sadness."[4]Metacritic rated the film 71/100 based on 18 reviews.[5]