If TV and movie journalists were real...

Urich has obviously been part of some incredibly unrealistic situations and some writers like to push this idea that he has the courage of a hero when things get dangerous, but overall the stories I've read portray him as fairly realistic. He makes mistakes at work and at home, but he is a strong investigator who is willing to ask difficult questions. One of the more relatable journalists in fiction.

 

Same thing with Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart.

 

I can remember Sally Fields' character in "Absence of Malice" making a big impression on me, and not in a good way.

 

He was from Texas. Went to high school in Brownwood and was coaching baseball at Big Lake when he did his tryout. I'm sure the directors took some liberties in shooting the movie.

 

Pretty good movie, except for her portrayal of a reporter.

 

She gets played like a fiddle by several different people the entire duration of the movie.

Plus, she's supposed to be a still fairly-young (30ish) perky reporter, living in a luxury downtown Miami high-rise and driving a spiffy imported sports car.

For years, I didn't really get that she was SUPPOSED to end up looking like a fool.

But Wilford Brimley kicks so much ass in that movie it's incredible. Probably my favorite 'crazy-like-a-fox good-ole-boy' performance ever.

"Eliott, you ever give any thought to what you'd do after public service?"

 

"Now we'll talk all day if you want to. But, come sundown, there's gonna be two things true that ain't true now. One is that the United States Department of Justice is goin' to know what in the good Christ - e'scuse me, Angie - is goin' on around here. And the other's I'm gonna have somebody's ass in muh briefcase."