All of the films we've seen William Hurt appear in up to this point have seem him portray fairly intelligent characters. But that all changed when he appeared as a man with little intelligence, Tom Grunick, in 1988 nominee Broadcast News. It also takes a long time for Tom to appear on screen as we firstly follow up-and-coming producer Jane Craig and her best friend, reporter Aaron Altman. Though incredibly intelligent, Aaron isn't particularly suited to anchoring the news as he lacks a certain charisma. Indeed, when one of Jane and Aaron's pieces garners maximum praise it's she who gets all of the credit from the network's famous anchor Bill Rorish. Aaron then takes an instant dislike to Tom based on the fact that he knows little about current affairs but he proves himself eager to learn from both Aaron and James. When a story breaks during the weekend of a party that the trio attends, it's Tom that's selected to present the news over Aaron. His story about Libya sees Jane executive produce the segment and both see their careers advance as a result. In addition to professional jealousy, Aaron hates the fact that Jane is attracted to Tom as he has had feelings for her for years. Aaron is later informed that he may be fired during the station's latest series of cutbacks and he implores his boss to let him anchor the news. Unfortunately, Aaron has to call on Tom for tips about connecting with the audience and looking his best on screen. As the film reaches its conclusion, and many of the station's staff are let go, we see the trio go their separate way for various reasons. Director and writer James L Brooks then decides to flash the action seven years into the future where we discover how far the characters' careers have come since we first met them.
Broadcast News was definitely one of the films I was anticipating the most when I started this decade as it appeared to have a lot in common with Network. On one hand it did have a lot to offer, Brooks had definitely done his research and the scenes at the station looked incredibly realistic. I enjoyed all of the scenes involving the reporting of the news and the intricate nature of each segment. In addition Brooks' key theme of charisma versus real news was well-explored and perfectly exemplified through the characters of Tom and Aaron. However, I personally feel as if the film lagged in portions and took a great deal of time to actually get going. I wasn't a fan of the personal lives of the trio and in particular the romantic triangle which didn't seem to get enough time devoted to it. In fact it appears as if Brooks himself wasn't a fan of the romantic angle but had to include as another hook to draw in a certain audience. Thankfully, in what is becoming something of a recurring theme, Broadcast News was improved by three impressive performances. Hurt again prove his versatility as an actor with his performance as a man who knows his limitations but tries to work with what he's got. He realises his charm and good looks will get him further than someone like Aaron even if he knows less than him. Holly Hunter was excellent as the powerful yet vulnerable woman who is prone to outbursts of tears for no apparent reason. Hunter proves herself to be an incredibly warm screen presence and makes Jane somebody you want to root for. Meanwhile, Albert Brooks makes Aaron the film's moral compass as he provides a combination of comic neurosis and charm. All three were nominated for well-deserved Oscar nominations and to me the combination of Hurt, Hunter and Brooks was the secret of the film's success. Aside from the trio, Broadcast News had a fantastic supporting cast including Joan Cusack as the ditzy assistant and Jack Nicholson as the network's famous anchor. Ultimately, Broadcast News had a lot to say and assembled a great cast to say it; I just feel it would've been a lot better had twenty minutes been cut from the overall running time.
Hurt added to his repertoire of characters in the last of the five films, The Accidental Tourist, as he played a fairly withdrawn character. Hurt's travel writer Macon Leary was an emotionless man who wrote the titular series of books aimed at businessmen who didn't particularly want to travel. When we meet him, he's recently suffered an emotional tragedy as his son has recently died when he was caught in the crossfire during a hold-up at a burger restaurant. Shortly after the event his wife Sarah moves out of their home and he's forced to live alone in their house with only his temperamental dog for company. It's due to his dog that he meets the incredibly lively Muriel Pritchett, who works at the local kennels and is an expert dog trainer. After learning that they're both divorcees Muriel tries to coax Macon into the world of the living and eventually convinces him to train his dog. At the same time Macon is forced to move back into the house he grew up and live with his quirky siblings, all of whom are in a permanent state of arrested development. Eventually Macon and Muriel start a relationship with Macon also bonding with her son Alexander, a sickly boy who is allergic to everything after being born prematurely. Muriel helps Macon come out of himself and gradually he learns to live a lot more than he ever has done. But events start to become complicated once again when he reunites with Sarah at his sister's wedding. He's then torn over whether to reconcile with Sarah or continue to stay with the woman who brings out the best in him.
The Accidental Tourist sees Hurt reunite with Lawrence Kasdan, who we previously saw direct him in The Big Chill. Unfortunately I found myself enjoying this a lot less than I did the college reunion comedy drama and I felt that Kasdan didn't employ the same amount of discipline that he did with The Big Chill. It may have something to do with the fact that The Accidental Tourist is an adaptation of the book by Anne Tyler, but I found it to have some large narrative flaws. For example I wasn't a fan of the way Muriel initially pursued Macon and instead felt that their relationship could've grown a lot more organically. Similarly I didn't like the fact that Sarah just presumed that Macon would return to her or that he ditched Muriel so quickly. The fact that both Macon and Sarah were primarily so withdrawn made it hard to warm to their characters and at times I found them both unlikeable. Equally I thought Muriel was a little overbearing and at times was too kooky for me to find her at all realistic. The parts of the film I enjoyed the most were those involving Macon's siblings and his sister Rose's romance with his publisher Julian. Of all the characters I thought the Leary siblings were the most endearing and Rose in particular was a joy to watch. In addition, I felt that the exerts from Macon's Accidental Tourist guide books were inventive and provided a little dry humour that was sorely needed. Despite not enjoying her character, I felt that Geena Davis delivered the best performance and I wasn't surprised to learn that she took home the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Hurt did what was required of him and I thought he did well to play a character with very little personality. Ultimately, The Accidental Tourist was a film I found off-putting due to its lack of realistic characters and I felt that Hurt's performance was the weakest of the five I've seen. Though I've enjoyed following his career throughout the 1980s I'm looking forward to watch a film that doesn't feature him in a lead role.
So next time we return to looking at stars of the past decade with a man who won two Best Actor Oscars in the 1980s both of which came from his performances in Best Picture winners.
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