Winchell (1998)

Though the name means little to my generation, and certainly less to those that follow, to those that grew up in the 30s and 40s, Walter Winchell was a household name. Starting as a newspaper gossip columnist, Winchell was willing to push the bar on what was acceptable to report in a time when studios controlled the media when it came to the private lives of their stars. His popularity and controversiality increased when he started ridiculing Hitler, and his radio show in the 40s was a huge hit. He didn’t transition well to TV, however, and his increasing sympathy with Joe McCarthy and staunchly anti-communist stance put an end to his career.

Or at least that’s the story the way HBO told it in 1998. Mostly interesting only to fans of classic Hollywood or those old enough to recall Winchell firsthand, HBO took the prudent steps of casting Stanley Tucci as Winchell, and Paul Giamatti as his main ghostwriter Herman Kurfeld. These two both deliver excellent performances – Giamatti is uncharacteristically low-key and restrained – and lift what could be mediocre material into an interesting biography/drama.

There are a few notes that chime sour, however. Christopher Plummer is badly miscast in a longish cameo as FDR; he gives it a go, but neither looks nor sounds like the patrician president. And this film shares in a Hollywood indulgence when filming a period piece; yes, people smoked more before the 1970s. But it’s as if the smokers in the movie industry want to get back at the legislation that increasingly shunts them to the curb; everyone smokes all the time, in every scene, whenever they can. After a while it gets distracting (and if we’re so hung up on that detail, why can’t we get something more important like, say, haircuts done correctly? Although to their credit Giamatti’s ‘do always fit the period).

But that’s a minor quibble. This is a typical HBO production – meaning lots of cuss words and boobs whenever they can slip them in – but it seems tame compared to what they broadcast these days. Winchell isn’t bad, but it’s not really worth checking out unless you’re a huge fan of Giamatti or Tucci. You won’t waste your time watching it, but you probably won’t miss much skipping it either.

April 25, 2013