Cradle Will Rock

the acting is perfect, the plot is spot on, and the statement is powerful! This movie about the making of a play would make a great play itself!

A spellbinding film of retelling a seminal moment in American Theater and Art History. Well written, well directed and well performed.

If one only wants to watch a canned action movie full of bad acting, bad script writing and eye candy special effects, then I'm sorry, this movie is no good. Don't by it. Don't watch it. Steer clear from it. Lest one be forced to think. However, if one has some appreciation for drama, historical fiction, complex story telling and how the early 20th century scare of communism changed the face of artistic expression in the US, then this gem of a movie is for you. Using several narrative threads that weave around an histocially controversial musical "Cradle Will Rock", this movie guides the viewer through the turblent times of the depression, the buddings of what will later be called the "red scare", the historical events of the Federal Theater, and the birth pangs of the first politically themed musicial in the US. The movie will leave you with more questions about US society, freedom of speech, and artistic expression than it will leave you with answers. Richly complex and thought provocting I give it 5 stars (I never get tired of watching it)

This is one of the best movies you probably didn't hear anything about upon its release. Multiple stories weave together around a play in the 1930's that was censored. It's about the prostitution of the arts; anyone who cares about art or films or plays or books should see this. One of the best films I've ever seen.

I really enjoyed this movie. The performances by all of the actors are great. There are almost too many great actors to list including Hank Azaria, John Cusack, Vanessa Redgrave, Bill Murray, and Emily Watson. I found the characters of Diego Rivera and Orson Welles are particularly compelling. The story is also very interesting. It's kind of an amalgam of several different stories which have been adjusted in time to make them a bit more poignant. The movie includes the death of vaudeville, Diego Rivera being commissioned to paint a huge mural for Rockefeller Center, the Federal Theatre Program which put actors to work during the depression, the beginnings of Communist paranoia, and the rise of Naziism overseas. The movie touches on themes of art for arts sake versus art as commerce, of collectivism versus communism, of capitalist ideals versus market realities. Mostly, I liked this movie because it made me think about all these themes and it made me want to learn more about this era including wanting to find out more about Diego Rivera, Rockefeller, Orson Welles, and all the other real characters who appear in the movie.

Simply put, this movie is an amazingly good account of the importance of standing up to attacks on our first amendment rights. It follows the story of the creation of a musical - a VERY controversial musical - by Marc Blitzstein. Granted not everything is historically accurate, but most of it is. The music is top-notch. Overall: WORTH IT!