Austin Movie Show review...

Rating: 9/10 (23 October 2005)

This is why I love movies! Good Night, and Good Luck will undoubtedly transport you to a 1950s TV newsroom, where everything looks, sounds, and even smells the 1950s. Well, I imagine that if a movie could give off a scent, this one would smell like smoke, whiskey, and fear. In the early 1950s, nearly all Americans were afraid of Communists, or worse yet, being labeled a Communist. Senator McCarthy made it his personal mission to seek out expel all Communists on American soil, and he didn't care about trampling the Consitution or civil liberties to do this.
Good Night, and Good Luck is the story of the first news team to speak up against Sen. McCarthy and his unconstitutional and immoral witch-hunt for Communists. Real-life broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow (played with precision and perfection by David Strathairn) used his weekly half-hour news show to investigate and reveal the futility, illegality, and immorality of the McCarthy hearings. Soon, members of the CBS news team found themselves under attack from McCarthy and were accused of sympathizing with Communists.
The parallels to 2005 are obvious, but still interesting. Substitute the word "communist" for "terrorist" and you've got a picture of the post-Patriot-Act U.S. where the mainstream media is terrified of openly opposing our inept President and his misguided attempts to make us "safer from the enemy." George Clooney wrote, directed, and stars in a perfect film that should inspire every citizen to speak up against injustice.