Top 5 Journalists in Film

Last week saw the release of State of Play, a remake of a British miniseries, starring Ben Affleck as a congressman who has gotten himself into trouble when one of his aides mysteriously dies, and then enters Russell Crowe as the haggard and experienced journalist who's out to clear Affleck's name. Below is a list of other great journalists who have appeared on the silver screen.

5. The Night Stalker


Darren McGavin stars in this made for tv movie about Carl Kolchak an abrasive reporter who's attitude has gotten him fired from major newspapers and is now working for a small time paper in Las Vegas. He finally gets a break when local girls are found dead with all their blood drained, and Kolchak investigates what appears to be a Vampire. However despite his evidence his editor and the local police make sure that his story never runs. The film itself is so so, but McGavin brings great light to the movie, and despite the ridiculous story it still shows a lot of the behing the scene politics involved with Journalism.







4. Ace in the Hole

Kirk Douglas stars as a down on his luck journalist who discovers a man trapped in a mine, and milks the situation, turning what should have been a six hour rescue operation into a six day long one. Kirk Douglas is wonderful as the titular star, bringing great depth to the character. The film work as a great commentary for journalistic ethics.









3. All The President's Men



Carl Bernstein & Bob Woodward the men who brought down a President. The film wonderfully shows the process that these two men went through to uncover all the details of the Watergate scandal, and how it all almost didn't happen. Redford and Hoffman are both on their A game as well as Director Alan J. Pakula (The Devil's Own, Sophie's Choice)










2. Fletch

I realize that this really isn't that great of a movie, but it has Chevy Chase at his best. And that I believe makes up for everything. Chevy stars as Irwin Fletcher an Investigative Reporter for a L.A paper. Fletch has been working undercover on a local beach as a junkie trying to figure out who has been supplying all the drugs on the beach, when he stumbles across a conspiracy involving a local millionaire (Tim Matheson) and the chief of police (Joe Don Baker). Fletch uses different disguises and alter egos to solve the case, and makes the best jokes of his career on the way.










For a film that was a box office flop when it was first released, Citizen Kane surely overcame almost everyone's expectations and became one of the most acclaimed films of all time. With eerie parallels to William Randolph Hearst its no wonder why Hearst publicly thrashed the film, and the critics on his newspapers payroll certainly didn't help either. Regardless it shows the ultimate rise and fall of a man. A man who was once idealistic and unbreakable and how the corrupt world turned him into everything he despised. God I love this movie. If you haven't seen it I highly suggest seeing it right now.