The staff of the Back Bay Mainline, a Boston underground newspaper that rose to prominence in the 1960s, struggles with the shifting social climate of the '70s amid rumors that the paper is about to be sold to a media giant.
Acting
Jeff Goldblum's pre-fame Max is pure chaotic electricity.
Direction
Joan Micklin Silver captures newsroom grime with affection.
Writing
Dialogue that actually sounds like exhausted idealists talking.
Director
Joan Micklin Silver
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Joan Micklin Silver fought to cast Jeff Goldblum against studio wishes; she spotted him in a small theatre role.
The Back Bay Mainline was loosely based on Boston's real underground paper The Phoenix, which faced similar corporate pressures in the mid-'70s.
US
