review for WUSA on AllMovie

Thanks to the rise to dominance of right-wing talk radio in the 1980s and '90s, WUSA arguably has more relevance today than it did when filmed in 1970. Unfortunately, its increased relevance does not make WUSA any better as drama. Polemical and didactic to the extreme, WUSA desperately needed to be leavened with some form of humor -- preferably satire, possibly irony, but at least with something approaching wit. Instead, the only laughs are unintentional ones at the expense of Robert Stone's sledgehammer dialogue. To make matters worse, Stone's screenplay lacks structure, meandering from point to point without achieving movement or drama, and there are precious few characters here with whom a viewer really wants to spend time. Director Stuart Rosenberg doesn't help matters, emphasizing the already obvious and contributing to the relentless quality of the script. Even a star like Paul Newman can't overcome the material; he captures both the smugness and the desperation of the character but can't find the life in him. Anthony Perkins and Joanne Woodward come off considerably better, providing the only real sparks in the film -- not coincidentally because they also find the humanity in their characters. When they're around, WUSA has some life; when they're gone, things are pretty dreary.