No Luck Needed...A Class Act

Rating: Null/10 (20 February 2006)

How much you admire George Clooney's 'Good Night and Good Luck' probably depends on your politics. Those on the far right, particularly those who have emerged in recent years as apologists for the 'honourable intent' of Senator McCarthy, will no doubt dismiss it as liberal propaganda. Perhaps so. If it is propaganda, though, I think it's more in reaction against the 'my Country, right or wrong' mentality of so many mainstream newsmen and commentators, unwilling (or afraid) to be branded as 'unpatriotic' by criticising the current US administration. David Puttnam hailed this, at the recent BAFTA awards, as one of the most important movies of recent years, and I think he might just have a point.
The ensemble cast are simply superb, from the sombre, authoritative David Strathairn as Edward R. Murrow, and Clooney as his bullish editor, to smaller, more nuanced turns by the likes of Jeff Daniels, Robert Downey, Frank Langella and Ray Wise  affecting as the tragic news anchor Don Hollanbeck. Strathairn and Clooney dominate, but it is important to note that theirs are simply the most prominent amongst a host of well observed, impeccably delivered performances. Hard to believe that this is not the work of a more experienced director.
The frenetic pace of live broadcast journalism is well captured, as, indeed, is the genuine sense of terror and paranoia during this undistinguished political era. Good use is made, too, of stock footage from the CBS archives, which  inter-cut with dramatised or scripted segments, add greatly to the authenticity of the film, and the arguments of it's protagonists. An important and politically prescient film.