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{{work|wppage=Broadcast News (film)}}
[[File:BroadcastNews.jpg|frame]]
{{quote|
'''Jane''': ''Yeah, it was an unusual place to be.''
'''Tom''': ''It's, like, indescribable. You knew just when to feed me the next line the second before I needed it. There was a rhythm we got into. It was like great sex.''
A 1987 drama-comedy written, directed, and produced by [[James L. Brooks]]
All three share a slavish devotion to their work ? even Tom, ever aware of his low intelligence, wishes to someday cover a story without Jane's help. As [[Roger Ebert]] describes: "After Hunter whispers into Hurt's earpiece to talk him through a crucial live report on a Middle East crisis, he kneels at her feet and says it was like sex, having her voice inside his head. He never gets that excited about sex. Neither does she." Indeed, it's only because their romance gets tied up in the workplace's questions of journalistic standards and integrity that Jane, Tom, and Aaron's [[Love Triangle]] gets tenser and tenser.
Watching this character knot unravel is exciting due to both strong performances by the lead actors and an excellent screenplay by [[James L. Brooks]]. He frequently shifts from comedy to drama but his dialogue always shimmers: it's hard not to laugh at Jane and Tom's good-natured flirting on the one hand, while when Aaron presses Tom on his ignorance of basic world affairs the discomfort hangs like a dagger in the air
''Broadcast News'' kept low profile but was universally praised by critics, getting four stars from [[Roger Ebert]] and fifth place in [[Gene Siskel]]'s favorite films of 1987. The movie was named to the [[National Film Registry]] in 2018.
{{tropelist}}
* [[An Aesop]]: The film is a searing indictment of declining news reporting standards. Over 20 years later, it looks more prescient than ever.
{{quote|
'''Jane:''' You can get fired for things like that.
'''Tom:''' I've been ''promoted'' for things like that.
* [[Book Ends]]: The film begins with vignettes of the three main characters in childhood, and [[Distant Finale|ends with them seven years after the events of the movie]] (
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Aaron, ''in spades''.
{{quote|
*
* [[Distant Finale]]: The last scene is set seven years after the end of the narrative.
* [[Drowning My Sorrows]]: Aaron.▼
▲* [[Drowning My Sorrows]]: Aaron
* [[Gainax Ending]]
* [[I Resemble That Remark]] / [[Worthy Opponent]]: Subverted, slightly.▼
{{quote| '''Tom:''' I'm going to miss you... you're a prick in a good way... I'm sorry.<br />▼
'''Aaron:''' No, I liked how that made me sound. }}▼
* [[Insufferable Genius]]: Aaron and Jane. Jane is aware of her pushiness, however.
{{quote|
'''Jane:''' ''(sincerely)'' No. It's awful.
▲* [[I Resemble That Remark]] / [[Worthy Opponent]]: Subverted, slightly.
* [[Love Triangle]]
* [[Pull the Thread]]: Used by Aaron to get Tom to admit he doesn't know the members of the presidential cabinet.
* [[Screw the Rules, I'm Beautiful]]: Tom advances in TV news on his looks despite never going to college and not knowing current events.
* [[Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Trailer]]: Jack Nicholson.
* [[
* [[Smug Snake]]: Bill Rorich.
* [[So Beautiful It's a Curse]]: Tom in a rare male example. As a child he resents being hit on by the waitresses in a restaurant.
▲* [[The Ted Baxter]]: Subverted the hell out of. Tom ''knows'' he's coasting on his appearance. He still knows all of the tricks that Aaron doesn't know.
* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: {{spoiler|Tom pretended to cry just so that they could film his reaction and be praised for his emotional interview with a rape victim.}}
{{quote|
{{reflist}}
{{AFI's 100 Years 100 Laughs}}
[[Category:The Criterion Collection]]▼
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[[Category:Academy Award]]
▲[[Category:The Criterion Collection]]
[[Category:Films of the 1980s]]
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