WHO would have thought that a true story about a troubled time in Hollywood could be as moving and captivating as the films it produced?

Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston stars in Trumbo, a film about the Communist witch hunts and hysteria of 1940s and 50s.

Cranston plays celebrated screenwriter Dalton Trumbo who was blacklisted from the industry and at one point jailed for 11 months for being a member of the Communist Party.

He excellently portrays a man who is split between his love for his country and his beliefs after being labelled a 'traitor' and 'spy' as the Cold War with the Soviet Union intensified.

Director Jay Roach's film is cutting but is also full of heart.

The biopic completely draws you in from Trumbo's defiance while giving evidence to the House Un-American Activities Committee (the only thing 'un-American' was surely the committee itself) to the way he fought back.

Trumbo wrote the Oscar-winning Roman Holiday and his friend Ian McLellan Hunter agreed to front for him while he was blacklisted.

He also worked secretly for a pittance for the B-movie producer Frank King (John Goodman) and released The Brave One under the pseudonym Robert Rich.

For film buffs connecting the dots of Trumbo's real career path while watching the story unfold is a joy.

But the film also shows the bigger picture of the impact this had on Trumbo's family and the 'Hollywood Ten', a group of screenwriters and directors who refused to testify.

Trumbo, who also wrote Spartacus, is portrayed as a charming, charismatic and fiercely intelligent but also a man of contradictions

He believed in Communist values but enjoyed his wealthy lifestyle as a successful screenwriter. He was a loving family man but was often absent from his wife and children's lives due to his work.

Elle Fanning stands out as his daughter Niki who looks up to him as a role model but despairs of him as a father.

Told over a number of years, Roach's recreation of the time is also convincing as is Cranston's appearance as Trumbo at various stages in his life.

It is difficult to imagine a time when there would be so much discrimination based on beliefs in the 'land of the free'.

But then just look at the EU referendum and how it has divided the UK. Trumbo is a powerful warning about giving in to the politics of fear and a tribute to a remarkable man.

RATING: 9/10

DAVID MORGAN