Fascinating film with great acting and directing that works as basic history lesson and social commentary

Rating: Null/10 (19 March 2006)

The story of a young man ejected from the Air Force because he refused to disown his father for once reading a "communist" publication comes to the attention of the newsman Edward R Murrow and his team at CBS. Despite the concerns of the corporation and the sponsors, Alcoa, Murrow and his producer Fred Friendly decide to run with it and attack the fact that there was no evidence, no proper trial and that the whole event is a knee-jerk reactionary piece of fear mongering from Senator McCarthy. This begins the conflict between McCarthy and the CBS team where all the pressure on Murrow and Friendly is to soften their reports and go with the flow.
I always liked George Clooney as an actor even if I think he relied on that hangdog charm a bit too much to get him out of ER and into a cinema career. But with recent years he has impressed me more and more with his intelligence and his determination to do more with his chances than just churn out average action thrillers  not to say he hasn't done those too but recently he has sought to do more with his money and fame. It helps that I am more on the left of centre than the right but generally I respect his stance. This film is a good example because he has delivered a story that engages and fascinates as it educates and challenges. If this sounds a little full of itself then perhaps you are right because those with more of a right wing leaning will perhaps feel that it is being smug, overbearing and simplistic; as I tended to agree with its targets I cannot comment but personally I felt that it was no more or less critical than it needed to be.
The story opens with a potted summary of the time and then jumps right into the start of the battle between Murrow and McCarthy. From here on it was intensely interesting and covered the action at the time while also giving plenty of food for thought for modern times (although not in an obvious or obtrusive manner). The narrative is fascinating and it does a great job of recreating the time and using archive footage blended really well. Clooney also handles the theme really well that the media and the people need to be able to hold their Government up for criticism and inspection and the inability to do that is totally against the idea of democracy; this is most obvious in the story we are being told (where it was easier to keep your head down) but you do not need to look too far in recent years to see how the story is still applicable now. As director Clooney is excellent and the only criticism is that he maybe over-directs, by which I mean that there is not a shot in the film where I didn't think "they've done a good job with that"; but this is as weak a criticism as it sounds. The black & white looks fantastic, the lighting is great and the framing of shots is expertly done, mixing flowing motions with static long looks. The running time also shows a discipline in the production as it is at its best for being punchy  it stops it becoming preachy or labouring the point.
The cast are excellent both on paper and in reality, although many have quite small roles. Stratharim is excellent with his convincing newsman  I don't know the real person but he really works within the film. Clooney brings his charm to the piece well but doesn't push himself forward like some others might have done. The support cast have limited time on screen but they are all really good and the number of well-known faces just adds to the feeling of depth. Clarkson, Wise, Langella, Downey Jr, Daniels and others all hit the mark just right and I was surprised by how deep with quality the film really did feel.
Overall this is an excellent little film that gives a potted history of the period in a fascinating and punchy fashion while also challenging the audience to have a thing about the current state of affairs. It is deep with talent, looks great and mostly avoids the smug overbearing approach that a lesser film might have had. The ending is also encouragingly downbeat and makes sure that we know there are no easy answers to the problems and that a bigger change is needed than a few good men doing the right thing.