As even-handed as Hollywood is capable of.

Rating: 8/10 (2 August 2019)

I put off giving this title a view since I was fearing that it would be another Michael Moore-esque left wing screed about the evils of McCarthyism. While it doesn't spare McCarthy at all (nor should it, McCarthy was a sloppy drunk who dug his own grave) it does "illuminate", as Murrow says, the eternal friction between the televised press, the pols, and the need for advertising profit. Indeed, unlike "All The President's Men" or "Guilty By Suspicion", one feels that the real loser in the end is the new medium of television and the men and women that make the news.
A breadcrumb, courtesy of Mr. Paley, is left for anyone curious about the period of the so-called "Red Scare": it can be confirmed now that the Federal Government was indeed infiltrated by many paid Soviet agents during the 1940s and 50s. Lookup Project Venona if you wish to know more. This, again, doesn't excuse any of Joe McCarthy's bad actions, it only answers the question of whether or not he was on to anything except the next bottle of scotch.
A far as a cinematic achievement, "Good Night And Good Luck" is a bit dull, but the cast is great, as is the cinematography. Whichever side you're on politically, you should be able to appreciate good art when you find it. And, for the record, Ray Wise is an eternally underrated and terrific actor.
PS It should be noted that the real reason Murrow left CBS was because of what Paley was going to offer the targets of his scrutiny: equal time.