1987 was a great year for movies, but it is due in large part to foreign films. A noteworthy exception is Broadcast News. This film, perhaps more than any in 1987, dares to ask the question of whether films can actually improve our lives morally or intellectually. In a decade dominated by blockbusters, we have at least one film that edifies.
Broadcast News begins with what feels like an 80s comedy, moves toward romantic comedy, but finally escapes the shallow plot lines resolving in a man and woman "completing" each other. The main characters flirt with the possibility of falling in love and living happily ever after, but what will keep them engaged with life is finding the right problem. The right problem for the three main characters, played by William Hurt, Holly Hunter, and Albert Brooks, is their work, not a romance ending in marriage.
By avoiding the pitfalls of romantic comedy, the film is allowed to work on us. In the typical romantic comedy, it is the conflict that keeps us engaged. "Happily ever after" endings are a permission to fall asleep on the couch. Here, the main characters do not want to go through their lives unengaged, so they choose their work first. The film edifies us through just this reminder: it is the right problem at the right time in life that keeps us engaged, not the solution to our problems.
IMDb rates this film 7.1 out of 10
Film 101 rates this film 4.5 stars out of 5
