Well Made, but lacking in scope

Rating: 6/10 (28 October 2005)

Let me start by saying this was a briskly paced, well acted serious movie which does a superb job in showing the events following Edward Murrow's decision to take on the red scare crusade being led by Senator McCarthy. David Straithairn does a fantastic job in portraying the stoic, courageous, and fiercely independent Edward Murrow.
The problem with the film is it too narrowly focuses on these events. It never makes clear why living in America in this time period was so wrought with fear over communist infiltration and how a man like McCarthy was able to gain such a stranglehold on the American people. As seen here our only understanding of the fear and power his committee hearings held is in the CBS owner growling, "This could be bring down my whole company" and CBS lawyers interviewing Murrow's news team for communist ties.
It is a great failing of this film that it seems so perfectly logical for Murrow to bring McCarthy down. One never appreciates the great amount of courage Murrow had to muster to take McCarthy on and that is truly a shame. A young audience member who watches this film will not come away understanding how out of control the fear of communism had become in this county and the civil liberties that were being violated for hundreds of "alleged" communist sympathizers.