Movie Review

Good Night, and Good Luck.

"Good Night and Good Luck" is one of two George Clooney films to deal with current events, this one more oddly so because it takes place in the past. It?s about Edward R. Murrow?s fight against Senator Joe McCarthy, the junior senator who held communist hearings in the 1950?s. The film is a stimulating back and forth between Murrow and McCarthy, but even more so because it has so much influence on how we view television news today. At a 1958 honorarium for the newsman, he says that television is being used to distract people from what is going on in the world ? that television cannot just be a series of wires and lights inside a box. It has to mean something. In watching the man talk and perform his duties as a journalist, you wonder if he had lived today, would we still be close to having 2000 dead soldiers in Iraq?

Murrow (David Strathairn) was a veteran CBS newsman with his own team. He also had a documentary television show called "See It Now.? On the show, he first breaks the story of a young lieutenant in the army who faces dismissal because his father was found with communist reading material. It is during this time that the threat of communism is on the rise and a committee has been dispatched to weed out those who would seek to damage democracy. While the committee seems ready to damage this poor boy based on heresy, Murrow?s story is an objective piece that sheds some doubt on it. This was more than unheard of because no one in news wanted to oppose a popular committee, at the risk of becoming unpopular themselves.

The hearings, of course, were a joke. Every little blip on someone?s record points to communist activity in McCarthy?s eyes. Murrow, at one time, was a part of a group that countered the government?s ideals, and early in the film is automatically labeled a communist sympathizer. With the backing of CBS president William S Paley (Frank Langella), his producer Fred Friendly (George Clooney), and the rest of his news team, Murrow decides to go right at McCarthy, attacking him for his labeling and bullying.

"Good Night and Good Luck" really shines whenever David Strathairn is on screen. His best work comes during the reading of a speech directed at Joe McCarthy ? that investigation is fine but persecution is not. We should not be living in fear of one another. Strathairn gives Murrow a serious, well-spoken, and distinguished demeanor, a man who serves a great importance to the world and wouldn?t have it any other way. Even his eyes become compelling after a while as he goes from reading the paper in front of him to an engaging glance with the audience.

Clooney, who not only stars but also directed and wrote this film, does a great job of capturing this time period. He films it in authentic black and white and he uses a jazz singer named Dianne Reeves effectively in two scenes. One being the opening, which showcases the news team partying together, classy style. The second is the mourning period after the suicide of Newscaster Don Hollenbeck (Ray Wise). The subplot of Joe (Robert Downey Jr.) and Shirley (Patricia Clarkson) Wershba having to keep their marriage a secret from the rest of the news team is also telling.

Clooney?s most thought-provoking effort, though, is making this movie relevant towards the situations present today. At one point William Paley says, "It is our job to report the news, not make it." Later, in a McCarthy rebuttal, he calls Murrow a communist (today he would be unpatriotic) because he is against what the government is doing. And finally, after McCarthy?s attack on Murrow?s allegiance, Murrow asks the question of where would we be without the free-flow of ideas and debate. That the very same ideas and principles are still being discussed shows just how powerful these points are.

"Good Night and Good Luck" is about the debate and the atmosphere of the newsroom, but one thing I would have liked to see is more of the effect the McCarthy hearings had on the world. Who are the people Murrow is fighting for? Is there wide spread panic? Something that gives us a sense of the tension that these witch hunts caused. Nonetheless, "Good Night" is one of the year?s most thought-provoking films, and its message of challenging those in power will hopefully be taken to heart, especially by young journalists. This movie proves that Clooney is an up-and-coming director with a lot of talent.

Craig's Grade: B+

A	10.9%
B	41.8%
C	31.8%
D	15.3%
F	0.3%