--- title: "Broadcast News: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/broadcast-news/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/broadcast-news" critics_score: 78 critics_reviews: 14 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): what the critics said Critics' score 78 from 14 reviews: 13 positive, 1 mixed, 0 negative. 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. ## The AV Club — Nick Schager Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 3 June 2013. 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 the review](https://www.avclub.com/personal-and-professional-tensions-collide-in-broadcast-1798238476) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 19 December 2017. 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 the review](https://www.vulture.com/2017/12/broadcast-news-and-the-power-of-holly-hunter-as-jane-craig.html) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Duane Byrge Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 16 December 2018. 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 the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/broadcast-news-review-1987-movie-1166833/) ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1986. Enormously entertaining inside look at TV journalists' lives, praising the performances especially Holly Hunter and Albert Brooks, and Brooks' sly satirical edge. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1986/film/reviews/broadcast-news-1200427300/) ## Empire — William Thomas Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. 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 the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/broadcast-news-review/) ## Radio Times — Tom Hutchinson Rating 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 the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-0lo8ou/broadcast-news/) ## Time Out — SGr Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. 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 the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/broadcast-news) ## Los Angeles Times — Sheila Benson Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 20 December 1987. 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 the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-12-20-ca-29864-story.html) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 16 December 1987. 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 the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/broadcast-news-1987) ## Slant Magazine — Bill Weber Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 31 January 2011. 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 the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/broadcast-news/) ## The New York Times — Vincent Canby Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 16 December 1987. 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 the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/16/movies/film-broadcast-news-comedy.html) ## The New Yorker — Pauline Kael Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 4 January 1988. 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 the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1988/01/11/fakers) ## Collider — Andre Dellamorte Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 19 February 2011. 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 the review](https://collider.com/broadcast-news-criterion-blu-ray-review/) ## The Ringer — Haley Mlotek Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 18 December 2017. 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 the review](https://www.theringer.com/2017/12/18/movies/broadcast-news-30th-anniversary) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/broadcast-news.md