Jay Roach directs Bryan Cranston, Helen Mirren and Louis CK in this Hollywoodised take on a blacklisted Hollywood writer’s fight to regain his standing.

I walked into this with concerns. I love Cranston but this felt like a middle income home for his talents, plus we’ve already had a good Trumbo documentary this decade, a stumbling block that effected The Walk after Man on Wire last year. A meaty central part for its feted lead, a period Hollywood setting and simple glossy look. Alarm bells. Would this be a mere redundant rehash to give our Walter White a lead movie role to thrash about in? And for the first half hour Trumbo appears to be exactly what it threatens to be – a TV movie with awards bait aspirations. Yet after the set up (where the real life great, commie writer is blacklisted, convicted and released) Cranston’s powerhouse central performance gets to bounce around in quite the romp of a plot. The decision to focus on Dalton Trumbo’s never ending efforts to keep writing, get paid, keep his family and friends solvent, and eventually recognised for his black market work adds a pleasing caper vibe to the proceedings. A vibe so effective it becomes big smile captivating. The ensemble cast never stop shining (and this is a flick where the quality of the casting goes very deep and way far down into the credits) and the motivated, proactive hero engages in a way that other awards whore roles would merely wallow in the unfairness of his situation. Trumbo is a grand piece of entertainment that tell a dark chapter in LA-LA land in broad, accessible strokes. The irony is, just as Trumbo regains his livelihood and stature by continually winning uncredited Oscars, that there is no joint award at the Academy for the type of top notch ensemble work on show here. The fact that the excellent Cranston does not dominate…. that John Goodman, Elle Fanning and especially a hissable Helen Mirren get to sparkle too…. proves what an expectation exceeding treat Trumbo actually is.

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