TIFF Review: Jay Roach's 'Trumbo' Starring Bryan Cranston, Helen Mirren, Diane Lane & Louis C.K.

Injustice has a major starring role in Hollywood today, but it's practically a silent extra compared to the 40s and 50s. Once their common enemy was defeated in WW2, American democracy and Soviet communism gave each other the cold shoulder for 40 decades. The political climate changed with the snap of a finger, and ideals that were just yesterday welcomed, or at least tolerated, suddenly became associated with high national treason. Actors, writers, directors, and various other artists became an obsessive fixation for the House Un-American Activities Committee, that formed the darkest cloud over Hollywood's hills for many years after the war. The targets were mostly hard-working, honest men like screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, an unsung hero of creative liberty and one helluva tough freedom fighter. His story is told in "Trumbo" by many people, but the film's MVPs are Bryan Cranston's dedicated performance as the title character,  and, appropriately, John McNamara's...