#64 Network (1976)

Network is a satire about network television, specifically what people are willing to do to boost ratings. Howard Beale, a middle-aged news anchor for the struggling network UBS, is fired for bad ratings, effective two weeks later. His wife had died recently, and he was childless, so it hits him pretty hard, and he states live on the news that night that he will be committing suicide on air the next night. He makes the front page of the paper the next day, and Diana, the ambitious VP of programming, convinces the network to keep Beale on the air as he goes through his mental breakdown...purely for the sake of gaining viewers. They give him his own news show, "The Howard Beale Show," and he fills the hour shouting his literally crazy opinions. They even go so far as to include a psychic on the show to predict the future news.

What I found fascinating about this movie was that it was shot in 1976, well before the days of Fox News..... but this guy was Glenn Beck! He's ridiculous, opinionated, has his group of loyal followers who believe everything he says. Also on UBS was what was basically a reality show; they film an extreme liberal/terrorist group actually commit crimes and then provide filler with fabricated story lines. It was a little eerie how similar these shows were to the kinds of shows we have on the air in 2012.

Even though I found the idea for the movie very clever, and it was a well-done satire, I didn't particularly enjoy watching the movie. Parts really dragged, and the love story was just obnoxious. I know why it was done -- to show the contrast between a middle-aged man and a younger woman who grew up watching TV, leading her to be cold, selfish, and unfeeling. It still felt unnecessary, and their romance wasn't very believable.

If I was a teacher, I would totally assign this film to my students. As I was watching, I felt like I could write a paper about everything they were saying with this movie. Interesting film.

Rating: 6/10

Big Names: Faye Dunaway, Robert Duvall

Big Lines:

"I'M MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANY MORE!" (#19 on AFI's list of movie quotes)