Lacks somewhat in focus and tension, but still worthwhile

Rating: 8/10 (9 February 2006)

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I won't join the chorus of accolades for George Clooney for his direction of this movie, but I will give him credit for making it. The way the press has been pushed around (and especially let itself be pushed around) during the George W. Bush years is a disgrace, and it is good that Clooney is here to remind us of a journalist who had the guts to go after a power-hungry demagog whose agenda included finding traitors among those who disagreed with him. Sound familiar? So, just as Arthur Miller's celebrated play The Crucible was timely in that it symbolically chastised those who would conduct witch hunts in the name of patriotism, Clooney's film is timely in that it reminds the Fourth Estate of its responsibility, a responsibility sorely neglected in the buildup to the war in Iraq.
As far as the film itself goes, a black and white fusion of documentary footage and an acted-out story line, it was good, but not great. David Strathairn, playing Edward R. Murrow, certainly had Murrow's voice, cadences and mannerisms down pat. However, because there would be a viewer's eye conflict with the actor's appearance and the way the real Edward R. Murrow looked, we were unfortunately not shown footage of Murrow himself. Which is a shame. Even though I was a child at the time, seeing Murrow's dark, penetrating presence on the old Muntz TV was indelible. He had a way of talking straight to the viewer and doing so in a manner that was clear, fair and to the point. Strathairn does a good job of reenacting that presence.
And it was good to see some footage of the demagoging junior Republican senator from Minnesota, Joseph McCarthy, in all his drunken, bullying vainglory. And I was fascinated to see President Eisenhower giving a spirited speech. Indeed the film managed to atmospherically recall the era of the early fifties when TV was all in black and white and everybody smoked to excess, especially Murrow. (But softening accusations of receiving Big Tobacco money, Clooney was wise to include an old TV commercial for Kent cigarettes in which the hyping of their new "safe" filters sounds cruelly ironic today.) Frank Langella was excellent as Murrow's careful, yet supportive boss, media legend William Paley. And Clooney himself played a nicely understated Fred Friendly. I have to say however that the film lacked a certain tension and that the focus was not as clearly defined as it might have been. A film without much tension and with a fuzzy focus can be boring (as some viewers have had the temerity to point out). Yet would it have been better to have simplified the issues for the sake of an easier understanding and accessibility for the average viewer? I don't know, but if I had been Clooney I would have more directly tied the issue of the responsibility and independence of a free press (the central issue in the film) in with what is happening today and what has happened in recent years.
Almost stopping the show by herself was jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves singing some of the standards of the era, including "How High the Moon," "One for My Baby," etc., and the very catchy and ironic, "TV is the Thing This Year." Her easy but intense concentration, her beautiful voice, and her exquisite timing were for me one of the highlights of the movie.
Bottom line: After seeing this on a return flight from Hawaii I can now say that not EVERY film that I have seen on an airline has been unwatchable. However flawed, Good Night, and Good Luck is definitely worth the time and effort, especially for those who care about the history of broadcast journalism and governmental attempts to control the media.