Its good, but also disappointing

Rating: 6/10 (1 November 2005)

As a docu-drama (i.e. trying to be like you were in the news studio of CBS at the time) its well done. But I wanted more than that. Its interesting that Murrow's on screen presence as the ultra serious reporter is depicted as just the way he is all the time (which may have been true, but seems a little doubtful). I found this to sort of dilute the weight of his words (that I have heard before). You also get nothing about who Murrow and Friendly were, why did they do this, what were the risks etc. What did they think and feel about it, what did their families think and feel about it, what price was paid etc. Clearly Friendly and Murrow (and others) put a lot of their lives into this, and must have been passionate about it, but that passion does not come across. Its like the cast is on anti-depressants and having their emotions compressed, no real highs, no real lows. It has this constant air of ultra seriousness, yet also a sort of superficialness. Its about what they did, but not who they were or why they did it. You get a little of this in the one scene with in Bill Pailey's office, but its not enough.