A half-hearted recommendation

Rating: 6/10 (19 May 2008)

I can only give this film a lukewarm recommendation. It has nothing to do with the thesis. Those who have commented that Venona intelligence somehow vindicated McCarthy by proving that there were highly-placed Soviet spies are, at the very least, putting the cart before the horse. McCarthy or no McCarthy, it was assumed that there was a Soviet spy network operating in the US, and that it would be placed as highly as the Soviets could manage (otherwise, what would be the point?). However, the thesis of this film only addresses McCarthy's *methods*, and the passive tendency of TV as a medium in general. At any rate, there is no indication that McCarthy had any direct access to Venona intelligence, which was unavailable to Truman and Eisenhower.
No, the film didn't thoroughly impress me just because it wasn't that good. Every scene was skin deep, there was no probing into character or motivation and nothing going on below the surface. The direction was undistinguished, a connect-the-dots job, and the inclusion of the jazz numbers (which in themselves were very good) added nothing, and evoked such devices used on pedestrian TV shows, such as "Ally McBeal" and the like. What little development there was, was so painfully foreshadowed by the acting that it came as little surprise.
This just coasted along on a rather obvious "Newsreel Noir" atmosphere, a competent ensemble cast, and the quiet charisma of Strathairn as Murrow. Ironically, it offers as little to chew on as most of the medium it's critical of.