--- title: "Broadcast News" year: 1987 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/broadcast-news" fi1m_id: "broadcast-news" imdb_id: "tt0092699" tmdb_id: 12626 wikidata_id: "Q1539062" fi1m_score: 84 critics_score: 78 critics_reviews: 14 published: "2026-09-15" updated: "2026-09-18T08:37:43.980316+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Broadcast News (1987) Directed by James L. Brooks · 2h 13m · MPA R · Comedy, Romance ## Identity Broadcast News - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/broadcast-news - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** broadcast-news - **IMDb ID:** tt0092699 - **TMDB ID:** 12626 - **Wikidata ID:** Q1539062 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092699/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/12626, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1539062 **Fi1m score: 84** · Critics 78 from 14 reviews *In a sentence:* Everyone in this newsroom can ask a difficult question, provided it has nothing to do with their own love life > James L. Brooks makes a funny, perceptive romance about people who would rather discuss work than themselves. It gets too forgiving of their faults, but Holly Hunter, William Hurt and Albert Brooks make them worth caring about. ## Synopsis In a Washington television news bureau, producer Jane Craig (Holly Hunter) works alongside Tom Grunick (William Hurt) and Aaron Altman (Albert Brooks). Their working lives become entangled in a romantic triangle, with professional loyalties complicating personal attraction. The pressure to get news on air leaves little room for anyone to consider what they want away from the job. As ambition and affection pull the three colleagues in different directions, the bureau remains the centre of their lives. James L. Brooks writes and directs this comedy about romance, careers and the business of television news. ## Review *Broadcast News* is a funny, observant romantic comedy whose people have made work their main excuse for neglecting themselves. James L. Brooks writes and directs with enough affection to make their company pleasurable, even when their behaviour is not. We recommend it warmly, with a reservation about the gentle treatment these colleagues sometimes receive. The Washington television news bureau matters because a professional disagreement can become personal before anybody has admitted there is a personal problem. Holly Hunter’s Jane Craig is the reason that mixture works. Her anxiety as a producer gives the workplace scenes urgency, but Hunter also makes it tiring to be around someone for whom the job is always so important. She does not ask us to mistake that intensity for an uncomplicated virtue. She makes dedication look exhausting, particularly when Jane cannot seem to put any distance between herself and the work. William Hurt’s Tom Grunick and Albert Brooks’s Aaron Altman give her two different kinds of company, and neither performance settles for filling a corner of the triangle. Hurt makes it possible to like Tom without having to agree with him. Albert Brooks gives Aaron’s wit an edge that makes him funny without making him automatically right. We laughed at the newsroom wisecracks, then felt uncomfortable about how readily we had enjoyed their malice. The script allows a clever line to hurt somebody, rather than treating every joke as harmless. Michael Ballhaus’s cinematography keeps our interest in the faces, which is sensible in a film where so much depends on how a remark is received. Charles Rosen’s production design makes the bureau convincing as the centre of these people’s lives. Neither contribution makes the workplace feel incidental to the romance. The professional setting gives the actors reasons to be near each other, judge each other and avoid saying what is bothering them. Richard Marks’s editing is especially effective at keeping the newsroom exchanges brisk without losing their personal sting. The pace is less assured when the film gives its people more time to consider their feelings, and at 133 minutes there is room for a firmer cut. Bill Conti’s score is an amiable companion to the romance, although its encouragement towards tenderness can feel unnecessary. Brooks has already given his actors enough to make us care; the music need not insist. Our main reservation is that Brooks forgives too much. He understands the back-stabbing and the temptation to treat television news as entertainment, then lets the romance take some of the discomfort away. Still, compared with a romantic comedy in which work is merely an obstacle to finding the right person, this has a welcome interest in why people enjoy their jobs. Attraction has to compete with the pleasure of being useful, being admired and being right. There is no requirement to like all three people equally, and the film is better company if we resist picking a favourite too quickly. Hunter, Hurt and Albert Brooks keep changing how much sympathy each deserves. Their self-absorption can be funny and painful within the same exchange. Watch it with someone prepared to disagree about all three of them. *Fi1m score 84, published 15 September 2026.* ## What the critics say The reviews are almost entirely warm, and the praise lands in the same two places: James L. Brooks’s screenplay and the acting. Critics credit the script with catching a Washington news bureau at full panic and with seeing early where television news is heading, towards entertainment and away from substance. Holly Hunter’s anxious producer is the performance most often singled out, with Albert Brooks’s repressed, truth-telling reporter close behind. Several critics note that the romance matters less than the characters’ devotion to their jobs, and treat that as the point. The spread is narrow. Only The New Yorker sits in the mixed column, finding the dialogue witty but the direction episodic and closer to television than cinema. Among the admirers, the recurring complaint is a soft centre and a weak epilogue, raised by Empire, Time Out and Slant. Later reappraisals run noticeably hotter than the notices from the film’s release, which are appreciative but more measured. ## Straight answers **Is Broadcast News worth watching?** *Broadcast News* is worth watching for anyone who likes a romantic comedy in which the work matters as much as the romance, and we scored it 84. Holly Hunter, William Hurt and Albert Brooks make three self-absorbed colleagues worth caring about, though James L. Brooks forgives their faults more readily than we would. At 133 minutes it could lose a little. **How long is Broadcast News, and what is it rated?** *Broadcast News* runs 2h 13m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is a comedy and romance film. **Where can I watch Broadcast News in the US?** *Broadcast News* is available to rent from Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV from $3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How violent or frightening is Broadcast News, and is it suitable for children?** *Broadcast News* is not violent or frightening; it carries a UK 15 certificate for adult language and the behaviour of its characters rather than for anything alarming. The comedy trades in newsroom wisecracks with real malice behind them, and the romance is between grown-ups with grown-up problems. Children would find little to hold them, and the certificate rules out younger ones in any case. **How does Broadcast News compare to His Girl Friday?** *Broadcast News* is the warmer and slower of the two, while [*His Girl Friday*](https://film.one/film/his-girl-friday) is the sharper and faster. Howard Hawks treats newspaper work as a comedy of speed and lets nobody be decent; James L. Brooks gives his television journalists more time to consider their feelings and rather more sympathy than they earn. Choose the earlier film for precision, the later one for people you might want to spend an evening with. **What should I watch after Broadcast News?** After *Broadcast News*, try [*His Girl Friday*](https://film.one/film/his-girl-friday) (1940, Fi1m 90): For newsroom speed and a romance conducted as a professional dispute. Then [*The Apartment*](https://film.one/film/the-apartment) (1960, Fi1m 91): For office ambition, compromised affection and jokes that do not excuse the damage; and [*Toni Erdmann*](https://film.one/film/toni-erdmann) (2016, Fi1m 86): For another woman whose professional discipline offers little protection from personal embarrassment. ### Reviews we read (14) - **The AV Club**, Nick Schager (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it Brooks’ funniest and most incisive portrait of navigating personal and professional lines, praising its prescient take on TV news shifting toward infotainment and the complex ethical dilemmas faced by the leads. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/personal-and-professional-tensions-collide-in-broadcast-1798238476) - **Vulture** (90/100, inferred): The piece hails the film as a romantic-comedy masterpiece that remains resonant, especially for its sharp writing, multilayered characters, and astute portrayal of journalism; it singles out Holly Hunter’s performance as the vital, empowering center. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2017/12/broadcast-news-and-the-power-of-holly-hunter-as-jane-craig.html) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Duane Byrge (85/100, inferred): The critic calls the film a wonderfully funny yet trenchantly sober look at modern romance in a high-pressure TV news bureau, crediting James L. Brooks' brilliant screenplay for blending romance and workplace satire effectively. It singles out the strong performances, especially Holly Hunter's as the anxious producer and the insightful take on workaholics navigating professional and personal tensions. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/broadcast-news-review-1987-movie-1166833/) - **Variety**, Variety Staff (85/100, inferred): Enormously entertaining inside look at TV journalists' lives, praising the performances especially Holly Hunter and Albert Brooks, and Brooks' sly satirical edge. [Read](https://variety.com/1986/film/reviews/broadcast-news-1200427300/) - **Empire**, William Thomas (80/100, inferred): The critic describes the film as a funny and provocative examination of the professional and emotional conflicts within a TV news team. They single out James L. Brooks's insightful writing and direction, along with the strong ensemble cast, for particular praise while noting a minor flaw in the epilogue. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/broadcast-news-review/) - **Radio Times**, Tom Hutchinson (4/5): It's Drop the Dead Donkey stateside in this sweet-and-sour satirical comedy. A romantic triangle develops between three self-serving Washington TV journalists, with Holly Hunter provoking the sorrow and pity of lives at the mercy of their careers. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-0lo8ou/broadcast-news/) - **Time Out**, SGr (75/100, inferred): Brooks is knowing about the wisecracks, back-stabbings and political shifts of the media game, underpinning a charming love-triangle with a serious statement about television news. The script has superb set pieces and crackles with furious one-liners, though it is a little soft-centred. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/broadcast-news) - **Los Angeles Times**, Sheila Benson (70/100, inferred): Brooks' original screenplay captures the backstage world of television news at peak panic with delicious specificity and powers of observation. It offers eavesdropper pleasures on real newsroom dynamics through sharp dialogue and character revelations. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-12-20-ca-29864-story.html) - **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (70/100, inferred): The film is as knowledgeable about TV news as any movie but also examines how people use high-pressure jobs to avoid personal introspection. It centers on three characters in a romantic triangle who are ultimately more obsessed with work than love. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/broadcast-news-1987) - **Slant Magazine**, Bill Weber (70/100, inferred): The review praises the film’s watchable cast, comic set pieces, and Hunter’s vulnerable yet powerhouse performance as Jane, while noting some built-in naïveté in its view of substantive journalism and a diluted epilogue. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/broadcast-news/) - **The New York Times**, Vincent Canby (70/100, inferred): Television news-as-entertainment is the funny, occasionally satiric subtext of this bright comedy with smashing performances by William Hurt, Albert Brooks and Holly Hunter. Brooks goes inside a network's Washington bureau to show how things work in a gentle expose. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/16/movies/film-broadcast-news-comedy.html) - **The New Yorker**, Pauline Kael (60/100, inferred): The critic finds the film entertaining with witty dialogue but criticizes its lack of filmmaking excitement and conventional satirical approach, singling out the authentic newsroom hum and Albert Brooks' performance for praise while noting the TV-like episodic directing as a flaw. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1988/01/11/fakers) - **Collider**, Andre Dellamorte (90/100, inferred): The critic praises the film as a subtle, insightful masterwork about journalism and human desires, noting how it cuts deeper than more strident satires like Network by showing people knowingly choosing the attractive over the substantive. The performances, especially Albert Brooks as the truth-telling but repressed Altman, are singled out as note-perfect. [Read](https://collider.com/broadcast-news-criterion-blu-ray-review/) - **The Ringer**, Haley Mlotek (90/100, inferred): The film is a masterpiece and among the best movies ever made about journalism, standing out for its exceptional performances and deeply honest writing. It offers an accurate and hilarious look at the media hellscape as it was then and remains now, while treating romance as secondary to the characters' work obsessions. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2017/12/18/movies/broadcast-news-30th-anniversary) ## Details - **Director:** James L. Brooks - **Director:** James L. Brooks - **Writer:** James L. Brooks - **Cinematography:** Michael Ballhaus - **Editor:** Richard Marks - **Music:** Bill Conti - **Production design:** Charles Rosen - **Costume design:** Molly Maginnis - **Producer:** James L. Brooks - **Cast:** Holly Hunter as Jane Craig; William Hurt as Tom Grunick; Albert Brooks as Aaron Altman; Robert Prosky as Ernie Merriman; Lois Chiles as Jennifer Mack; Joan Cusack as Blair Litton; Peter Hackes as Paul Moore; Christian Clemenson as Bobby - **Runtime:** 2h 13m - **Certificate (MPA):** R - **Release (the US):** 16 December 1987 - **Genres:** Comedy, Romance - **Also in:** [Best Picture winners](https://film.one/collections/oscar-best-picture.md) (Nominee, 1987); [Golden Globe Best Musical or Comedy winners](https://film.one/collections/golden-globe-comedy.md) (Nominee, 1987) - **Budget:** $20 million - **Box office:** $67 million ## Where to watch in the US - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, hd - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $9.99, hd - Apple TV: buy $9.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-15.* Also available in: AT, AU, CA, CH, DE, DK, FI, FR, GB, IE, NO, NZ, UA, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Academy Awards 1988: Best Actor (nominated); Best Actress (nominated); Best Cinematography (nominated); Best Film Editing (nominated); Best Picture (nominated); Best Supporting Actor (nominated) ## If you liked this - *His Girl Friday* (1940), Fi1m 90: For newsroom speed and a romance conducted as a professional dispute — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/his-girl-friday.md) - *The Apartment* (1960), Fi1m 91: For office ambition, compromised affection and jokes that do not excuse the damage — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-apartment.md) - *The Taste of Others* (2000): For adults mistaking good manners and social confidence for understanding one another - *The Hour* (2011): For television news made by people whose private loyalties complicate the work - *Toni Erdmann* (2016), Fi1m 86: For another woman whose professional discipline offers little protection from personal embarrassment — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/toni-erdmann.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/broadcast-news