|
Good Night, And Good Luck (2005) |
| Overall Grade: |
A+ |
|
| Story: |
A+ |
|
|
| Acting: |
A+ |
|
|
| Direction: |
A+ |
|
|
| Visuals: |
A+ |
|
|
An Epic Battle In A Small Tale
by Eric (movies profile)
Sep 7, 2007
16
of
20 people found this review helpful
There is so much I admire about George Clooney. Instead of going for the easy roles and playing off his Cary Grantish good looks, he takes on the tough roles. How he partnered up with Steven Soderbergh and is on the front line of independent filmmaking. And now, with his second time in the director's seat, he gives us Good Night And Good Luck, a film that looks straight in the eyes of current events and doesn't flinch. But not just that, the film is a masterpiece.
Good Night is about the men and women of CBS News, lead by Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) who took on the McCarthy Red Scare when they reported a piece concerning an Air Force officer who was forced out when he refused to renounce his father for his "communist ties". Murrow's producers are concerned, not least by his friend Fred Friendly (Clooney) or the owner of CBS (Frank Langella). The last thing they need is to have all their sponsors renounce CBS and put them out of business. But they believe that Murrow is right and allow him to go after McCarthy. And Murrow doesn't tread lightly into what he's getting himself involved in.
But this film is more than just a look at the battle that cornered CBS's dominance in news for almost 30 years, but about the people of the newsroom. You get to know their jobs and how they went about it. You meet a married couple (Robert Downey Jr. and Patricia Clarkson) who have to hide their marriage to keep from losing their jobs. You get to see the effects of not only what McCarthyism is about, but the wake that it leaves behind with fellow reporter Don Hollenbeck (Ray Wise in a very powerful performance). And it does so with rigid historical accuracy, allowing McCarthy to act as himself in this movie, letting the monster be the one on trial.
Is Murrow saintly? Did he have to get involved? Not in the least. McCarthy was going to shoot himself in the foot sooner or later, but what Murrow did was put the man on trial in public court, the one that Americans could see for themselves. And Murrow was selective about what to point out and what not to.
The film has so many great performances, it's hard to mention them all. So I'll only mention the four that I love the most. The first is Ray Wise's performance as a man who gets caught up with his affiliation with Murrow and is slowly roasted without an opportunity to fight back. During the film we see this man utterly destroyed and Wise shows this man's desperation and depression as he is being attacked not by McCarthy, but a McCarthy crone in the New York Times. Downey and Clarkson I see as the greek chorus that brings us back to the action when time skips forward. They make this marriage feel both like a blessing for them and a burden. I love their little scenes especially when they are told that everybody has always known it from the beginning. And finally there is Strathairn, who is getting a nod from me for Best Actor. This is a tour-de-force performance that captures the legendary newsman not with the grand guestures, but the small ones, the way he talks, the way he poses, and the way he carries himself. There are some funny scenes where he's interviewing celebrities that are just priceless as you know how miserable he is doing it, but knowing that he'd do it in a heartbeat if it allows him the chance to go after the big fish.
Clooney's job as director is made easy by the people he chooses behind the camera. He and fellow actor Grant Heslov wrote the screenplay that is pure wit and humor (and not one profanity). He has Robert Elswit as his Director of Photography that gives this Black and White presentation some real gloss and edge. I could go on forever about Elswit's wonderful camera shots in this film. Clooney is a masterful artuer, allowing for so much to happen is so little time (the film runs just over 90 minutes), and to allow even the smallest roles to have juice in them. He makes this an important film by allowing it to breathe and come off as humble.
The film opens to a gala thrown in Murrow's name where instead of talking about how things were in his time, he talks about the threat of what is now known as "infotainment". I think that the real Murrow would be rolling in his grave if he had seen how the press panhandled to the President after 9/11 and how the American public are more interested in Brittney Spears' baby than they are about Valerie Plame. As for me, I think he has a point.
All in all, I deeply urge you with the bottom of my heart to see this movie. Both because it's an excellent peice of entertainment as well as an eye-opening look at where our news has lowered itself to.
Until next time, have a great day. Good Night, and Good Luck |
|
|
|
|
|
|
My Public Profile 
