| Overall Grade: |
C+ |
|
| Story: |
D+ |
|
|
| Acting: |
A |
|
|
| Direction: |
B |
|
|
| Visuals: |
A- |
|
|
Good night, and better luck next time
by Eric (movies profile)
Jun 11, 2006
39
of
62 people found this review helpful
In A Nation Terrorized By Its Own Government, One Man Dared to Tell The Truth...
But truth is elusive. Clooney has chosen a timely subject concerning a fascinating character. The acting was superb; the direction straightforward and elegant. Tight black and white cinematography deftly framed the material. But the truth is, I never liked the movie, despite how much I tried.
David Strathairn, playing Edward Morrow, is impeccable; portraying a full and rich character of intelligence, dry wit, and intensity. His performance balanced the restraint needed for the role with the humanity to portray it. Frank Langella's well played then CBS founding partner William Paley, offers one of many missed opportunities for Clooney in his screenplay to have explored further the "truth" in media. Ratings are driven by what people want. That America nurtures apathy and ignorance, more carefully than French cultivate wine and arrogance, is dealt only a parting shot.
The parallel stories surrounding Robert Downing's character and his wife, and Don Hollenbeck wasted time by not significantly furthering the relationships between the news and news makers, objective journalism and opinionated editorializing, or Morrows and McCarthy or any other of the salient thematic veins in the movie.
This movie would have been perfect had Aurthur Miller written the script. The infectious paranoia and culture of fear surrounding McCarthy hearings never translated into suspense. Timely subject matter...certainly, but the movie borders on pedantic rather than parabolic. Clooney is telling us, rather than story-telling to us. More than preaching to choir, he is underestimating it. |
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