Movie Review: Good Night and Good Luck

We caught the new George Clooney-directed film "Good Night and Good Luck" at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas last week here in NYC. The movie is about the politically tide-turning work in the 1950's of legendary TV journalist Edward R. Murrow.

The story is set at the height of the communist "Red Scare." Murrow and his cadre of producers and newsies at CBS helped quash the mass hysteria and fear whipped up by Senator Joesph McCarthy, who led an increasingly irrational and out-of-control investigation of communists in America.

The hysteria, at it's worst, ruined the careers and lives of many innocent citizens suspected and wrongly branded as communists or spies. It was a period in America when "homeland security" had turned into a witchhunt. And Murrow helped bring that and Senator McCarthy to an end.

Though the film centers around Murrow (played by David Straithern) and his work, this is not a biopic of the man himself. The cast's performance really feels like an ensemble effort even though Straithern is the "star."

Given our media and journalism backgrounds, we were really looking forward to this movie. "Good Luck and good Night" doesn't so much disappoint as a film than as a victim of its own hype and universal praise by movie critics.

Don't get us wrong: This is an excellent movie. Its production design and style are stunning. The pace and economy of the script are pitch-perfect. The performances are right on their mark. This is a finely directed piece of movie-making.

But it all seemed to end too soon. The film feels like it wraps up the narrative of this history-making period in modern American journalism without fully giving us the whole story about the people or the era. We felt like there was so much the story could have mined in both the nature of these events and the characters, especially with a man as complex and illuminating as Murrow.

"Good Night and Good Luck" is a testament to the power of the media and an eerily well-timed, relevent allegory and critique of the current political and media climate in the U.S. This is a political film in the guise of historical media-politico drama.

The movie opens and ends with scenes of an event honoring Murrow years later, where the newsman gives a sharply critical speech outlining the failures of television journalism and warning of this failure's ill effects on society. These scenes and Murrows words -- though prescient and serious -- feel heavy-handed to the film's detriment.

That said, "Good Luck and Good Night" is a remarkable and remarkably entertaining movie. Our rating: 4.5 Stars out of 5.

Essential Links

Good Night and Good Luck Movie Web Site

Posted by Supercore at November 11, 2005 12:34 PM