At the center of Broadcast News is a love triangle of sorts, but the one thing that these characters love more than anything is their work, often at the expense of the relationships between each other. We are introduced to the three characters as kids in humorous bits that reveal the type of people they will become. There is Tom Grunick, who is charming and good looking, but also self admittedly not that bright. He is moving from local news to the big time, syndicated network news where the other two characters are already established. Aaron Altman is the opposite of Tom, very intelligent and a sharp reporter but not particularly attractive, thus never really getting a chance at lead anchor. His best friend who he is secretly in love with is Jane Craig, an incredibly talented and driven writer-producer. Jane and Aaron share a strong bond based on their intellectual compatibility and respect for good reporting; both are appalled by the network's hiring of Tom, whose very presence lowers the high standards they expect from the news. Yet much to Aaron's chagrin and Jane's surprise, she is attracted to Tom.
What is interesting is that the love triangle angle isn't like what you'd really imagine it, at least as far as movies go. The romance between Jane and Tom sort of happens but ultimately work (and a little bit of Aaron) gets in the way; the real relationships in their lives are with their careers. There is a great deal of overlap between personal and professional lives until you realize there is no real difference between the two with these characters. The ultimate question for Jane regarding Tom is can you really be with someone you don't respect? But then why hasn't Jane and Aaron ever gotten together when they are so seemingly compatible? I suppose the flip side to the argument would be can you ever be with someone who you're not attracted to? Or is it that they respect each other so much professionally that they don't want to mess things up? As is the case with most love triangles, Jane's ideal mate would be a combination of the two men, Aaron's intelligence and professionalism with Tom's handsome looks and charm. The film doesn't have the typical Hollywood ending you would expect but a rather realistic one as far as I'm concerned. It probably isn't a crowd pleaser, but makes the most sense for all the characters involved and what would probably actually happen in real life.
The best moments of the film are actually in the newsroom. It was fascinating to watch them put the news together behind the scenes. My favorite scene is when Tom gets his first chance at anchoring a big story with Jane giving him instructions in his earpiece. The scene is so tightly shot and tense I was genuinely nervous for Tom and am as relieved as he is when he nails it. Expanding on the personal-professional relationship, this moment is actually the most intimate that Tom and Jane will share; he compares the back and forth rhythm of the moment to sex.
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the movie. I could immediately recognize that I just saw something quite good, but exactly how good? It is a well written film that is occasionally quite funny and always interesting. It might be the tone of the ending that has thrown me a little off in judging it, but it's not as if I disliked how it ended or anything. It just didn't seem like a normal way to end things, which isn't necessarily even a bad thing, just different.
Grade: B+
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