Holly Hunter

William Hurt

Albert Brooks

Robert Prosky

Lois Chiles

Joan Cusack

Peter Hackes

Christian Clemenson

Jack Nicholson

Robert Katims

Ed Wheeler

Stephen Mendillo

Kimber Shoop

Dwayne Markee

Gennie James

Leo Burmester

Amy Brooks

Jane Welch

Jonathan Benya

Frank Doubleday

Sally Knight

Manuel Alvarez

Luis Valderrama

Francisco Garcia

Richard Thomsen

Nat Benchley

Marita Geraghty

Nicholas D. Blanchet

Maura Moynihan

Chuck Lippman

Nannette Rickert

Timothy W. White

Peggy Pridemore

Emily Crowley

Gerard Ender

David Long

Joshua Billings

Glenn Faigen

Robert Grevemberg Jr.

Richard Pehle

James V. Franco

Jimmy Mel Green

Raoul N. Rizik

Mike Skehan

Franklyn L. Bullard

Glen Roven

Marc Shaiman

Alex Mathews

Steve Smith

Martha Smith

Cynthia B. Hayes

Dean Nitz

Phil Ugel

Lance Wain

Susan Marie Feldman

Jean Bourne Carinci

M. Fekade-Salassie

Gerald F. Gough

Robert Rasch

Robert V. Walsh

John Cusack

Bill Conti

James L. Brooks

Michael Ballhaus

Richard Marks

Polly Platt

Frank Smathers

Beth Bergeron

Mark P. Stoeckinger

Bruce J. Gfeller

Jessica Gallavan

Charleen Richards-Steeves

Cindy Marty

Dave Kulczycki

Anne Marie Stein

Jeff Rosen

David Sardi

Jerry DeBlau

Dennis Gamiello

Mark Wade

John Lowry

Bob Hagans

Stuart Neumann

Harold Fuhrman

Joseph F. Brennan

Yudi Bennett

Steve Callas

Donah Bassett

Barbara Harris

Ellen Chenoweth

Cynthia Streit

Karen I. Stern

Jery Hewitt

David M. Dunlap

Carl Fullerton

Colleen Callaghan

Kevin O'Connell

John W. DeBlau

Charles Rosen

Molly Maginnis

Kerry Hayes

Mary Bailey

Gábor Kövér

David V. Lester

Jane Bogart

Bob Badami

Linda Whittlesey

Susan Zirinsky

Donald O. Mitchell

Kristi Zea

Penney Finkelman Cox

Robert Grieve

Rick Kline

Patrick Drummond

Jacqueline Cristianini

Thomas Causey

Saul Bass

Comedy

Romance

Broadcast News

Amercent Films

American Entertainment Partners L.P.

Gracie Films

20th Century Fox

United States of America

CinemaSerf

Centred around the cut-throat environment of an American newsroom at a time when the focus of the bosses was switching from strong journalistic values to those more ratings-based, we are provided with this premiss. William Hurt ("Grunick") is certainly the more handsome man for the anchorman's chair, but he has nothing like the knowledge or gravitas of colleague and rival "Altman" (Albert Brooks) with his superior, borderline condescending on-screen style. Executive producer "Jane" (Holly Hunter) is charged with trying to keep things on an even keel, whilst unsure which, if either, of the two men she wants to date. At times there atmosphere here is electric, with quickly paced activity, acerbic wit and a wonderfully portrayed dog-eat-dog mentality that lends a great deal of authenticity to this most competitive of workplaces. Ocassionally, it is cluttered up by a romance that is simply not required - the triumvirate just didn't need it, but in the main Hunter is on super form. She effortlessly plays a multitude or roles as she tries to juggle her personal and professional feelings for these two men who offer us characterisations that we can laugh at and loathe in almost equal measure. I worked in live television for a great many years, and always admired the skills of those who can talk, listen, look and react all at the same time - the scene with poor old "Altman" losing half his bodyweight whilst on air still makes me squirm even now. It has lost some of its potency over the last 35 years, but recalling that this was amongst the first to illustrate just how tough these jobs are, it's still a great watch.

"Broadcast News" is desperately overlong and it stubbornly insists upon indulging in irrelevant mini-prologues of the three main characters at the beginning which has absolutely no bearing on them as adults, but other than this the film does successfully provide a fascinating insight into the pressurised and competitive world of television journalism and it must be applauded for highlighting the unfortunate trend of elevating news anchors to celebrity status and they are out to sell news to the public as if it were nothing more than another product. This is an alarming turn of events when the image of the news anchor supersedes the importance of global events simply because they are capable of bringing in substantial viewing audiences for a particular channel and furthering their own careers by doing so and established journalistic ethics be damned instead of their top priority always being the persistent pursuit of the truth.