I had heard about "The Front" many years ago but had only recently had the opportunity to see it. The recommendation to see it came from a book which detailed the films that the author thought, in hindsight, SHOULD have been awarded "Best Picture" ("Rocky" won in 1976).
There is so much talent here, both on screen and off--and yet the sum is not greater than its parts. One would think that a film about the 1950s entertainment blacklisting written and produced by those who not only lived through it but were also adversely affected by it would be thoughtful, serious, complex and sober...or satirical, ascerbic, and horrifying.
Instead the film, as a whole, comes off as a "TV movie of the week" with a feel of having been put together by those who only heard about the blacklisting debacle fifth-hand. There is an occasional glimpse of the lives that were ruined: Zero Mostel's downward spiraling character and his suicide is easily the best element in the film, for example.
But the focus is not on the blacklisted characters themselves but on Woody Allen's character, a schlub who with turtle-like drive tries to deflect the ramifications of his willingness to act as a "front" for three of his friends, all blacklisted writers, until all of a sudden, with literally 30 seconds left in the film, he has a change of heart: he believes! And he goes to jail a conquering and celebrated hero (who gets the girl) in a sappy ending this subject matter doesn't deserve.
Furthermore, everyone is mostly reduced to a two dimensional portrayal: the network executives, the token girlfriend, the blacklisted writers themselves AND the agents leading the persecution resulting in the blacklistings. Granted the producers had an axe to grind against those who initiated the witch hunts...but if you're going to have an enemy the audience can take seriously, don't make them cardboard cutouts: that's what comic books are for.
I wanted to like this film. But the irony is that the "Front" refers to writers not able to produce great works due to censorship based on their political philosophies--yet none of the characters would submit this screenplay in real life. Unfortunately, the real life victims did.
There is so much talent here, both on screen and off--and yet the sum is not greater than its parts. One would think that a film about the 1950s entertainment blacklisting written and produced by those who not only lived through it but were also adversely affected by it would be thoughtful, serious, complex and sober...or satirical, ascerbic, and horrifying.
Instead the film, as a whole, comes off as a "TV movie of the week" with a feel of having been put together by those who only heard about the blacklisting debacle fifth-hand. There is an occasional glimpse of the lives that were ruined: Zero Mostel's downward spiraling character and his suicide is easily the best element in the film, for example.
But the focus is not on the blacklisted characters themselves but on Woody Allen's character, a schlub who with turtle-like drive tries to deflect the ramifications of his willingness to act as a "front" for three of his friends, all blacklisted writers, until all of a sudden, with literally 30 seconds left in the film, he has a change of heart: he believes! And he goes to jail a conquering and celebrated hero (who gets the girl) in a sappy ending this subject matter doesn't deserve.
Furthermore, everyone is mostly reduced to a two dimensional portrayal: the network executives, the token girlfriend, the blacklisted writers themselves AND the agents leading the persecution resulting in the blacklistings. Granted the producers had an axe to grind against those who initiated the witch hunts...but if you're going to have an enemy the audience can take seriously, don't make them cardboard cutouts: that's what comic books are for.
I wanted to like this film. But the irony is that the "Front" refers to writers not able to produce great works due to censorship based on their political philosophies--yet none of the characters would submit this screenplay in real life. Unfortunately, the real life victims did.