A different type of movie

Rating: 10/10 (26 August 2006)

This is a different type of movie. And I never thought that the first '10' I ever gave out would be for a black and white documentary about a long-dead journalist.
I don't even like documentaries. Most sensationalize aspects of the characters life, to make them the 'hero' of the story. But I didn't think this one did.
Edward R. Murrow was one of the pioneers of television journalism. I already knew this. In fact, this movie didn't tell me much I didn't already know, because he was already a TV icon. Go into any library, and you can find books written specifically about his brand of journalism. A quick Google search while writing this review came back with over 1.8 million hits on his full name. That isn't including derivatives, misspellings and use of just his last name. In the TV age, he is a famous man, though he didn't really try to be.
But this movie told his story in a very real, very personal light. It didn't give you every detail, or try and give you an overview of his entire life. Again, because much of the story that is told is public record, it could have been warped, distorted, or told differently...but it wasn't. I got what I think was a real sense of who Edward R. Murrow was, a real person who was not entirely sure that what he was saying was the 'right' thing. But he felt it was his responsibility to tell it.
In short, this movie doesn't try to do everything. It tells a story..in this case, a true story, or someone who died 6 years before I was born.
And it does an excellent job of it. Well written, well directed, well cast, well acted. Kudos all around.