During the Great Depression playwright Mark Blitzstein (Hank Azaria) is working on the musical THE CRADLE WILL ROCK but doesn't have much inspiration for finishing it unless he has a vision of his former wife and Bertolt Brecht that recommend him to adjust the play and making it more adequate for the actual times. At the same time the WPA (Works Progress Administration) has to cut funding for all the FTP productions including the one by Blitzstein. After some failed shows and the destruction of a mural after Diego Rivera (Ruben Blades) is suspected of communism support, John Houseman (Cary Elwes) and Orson Welles set up an improvised performance with all the cast members that are in the audience that play without putting foot on the stage. Soon after this they play a fake funeral going to Times Square where there are lots of billboards of new plays.
I liked the concept and the cast as is full of many famous faces (Azaria, Elwes, John Cusack, Susan Sarandon, Bill Murray, Jack Black and some others) and I really appreciated that everyone was dressed like it was used back then. Kudos to director Tim Robbins for this. My problems were that at times the pacing was a bit dull and a few performances looked stilted. Despite this, I still liked it for what it is. A snapshot of a period in US history... nothing more, nothing less.
I liked the concept and the cast as is full of many famous faces (Azaria, Elwes, John Cusack, Susan Sarandon, Bill Murray, Jack Black and some others) and I really appreciated that everyone was dressed like it was used back then. Kudos to director Tim Robbins for this. My problems were that at times the pacing was a bit dull and a few performances looked stilted. Despite this, I still liked it for what it is. A snapshot of a period in US history... nothing more, nothing less.