Gripping B&W Drama

Rating: 7/10 (14 March 2006)

The main motivation to see 'Good Night And Good Luck' should overwhelmingly be for David Strathairn's superbly calibrated performance as 1950's journalist and broadcaster Edward R. Murrow in this somewhat talky but intriguing film. However, its director George Clooney proves to be a surprisingly deft hand behind the camera and should certainly give more thought to a career move further in this direction, away from his usual lacklustre acting performances. Here he wisely opts to stay in the background. Elsewhere, Robert Downey Jr. gives a dependable but unexciting performance in a rather unnecessary parallel plot line while Jeff Daniels and Frank Langella show admirable gravity.
One could argue that the film offers little psychological insight into what gave Murrow his motivation to take on McCarthy "The Junior Senator" other than journalistic integrity and more often than not comes across as a political tract with a rather too obvious contemporary relevance. 'Good Night And Good Luck' (Murrow's catch phrase) also arguably errs towards becoming a stylised filmed stage play in its reliance on confining most of the action to the TV studio but as other directors have proved in the past (such as Sidney Lumet with '12 Angry Men') this can in turns be an equally gripping technique and the word perfect transcribing of Murrow's eloquent broadcasts are thought provoking and moving. Numerous newsreel clips are used (and perhaps over-used) but their historical fascination is undeniable and to see a recent film with such glorious B&W Kane-like photography is quite simply a thrill.