Movie #141: Network

Movie #: 141
Movie Title: Network
Year Released: 1976

Director: Sidney Lumet
Notable Cast: Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall

Short Description: A television network cynically exploits a deranged former anchor's ravings and revelations about the news media for its own profit. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: #64
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: #100
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: #82



Date Watched: 4/11/2016

Grade: 3 out of 5 (Good)

Rationale: Network is one of the few movies I can think of where I found the supporting characters to be far more interesting than the main character (played by William Holden) and I assume that's what the Academy felt as well since Peter Finch's performance as Howard Beale won him the Oscar for Best Actor instead of Holden, even though they were both nominated. Finch was mesmerizing every time he appeared on screen as a news broadcaster at the end of his rope foretelling doom and chaos on live television. It's actually probably fair to say Finch, Faye Dunaway, and Robert Duvall were so great that they made Holden look just average even though he was good too.