Clash of the Titans

Rating: 8/10 (6 April 2007)

Edward R. Murrow goes up against Senator Joseph McCarthy in "Good Night, and Good Luck," a 2005 using Murrow's famous sign-off on the news program "See It Now" as its title. The stars are David Strathairn, George Clooney, Jeff Daniels, Patricia Clarkson, Ray Wise, Frank Langella, and Robert Downey, Jr. The story is set during the time of the HUAC investigations, when Murrow was one of the few newsmen willing to go up against the powerful senator who saw a Communist under every bed, Joseph McCarthy. It's an especially timely story post-9/11 as it concerns the violation of civil rights and use of fear tactics in order to exploit the insecurity rampant in the country at that time. Director/writer George Clooney couldn't have chosen a better subject.
Like the film "Thirteen Days" about the Cuban missile crisis, the brilliance of the film is in its use of actual transcripts, here from "See it Now." In the case of "Good Night, and Good Luck," we also see real footage from the investigations and hear Joseph McCarthy himself as he goes after witnesses and Murrow. It makes for fascinating viewing.
Though there were some minor errors, the attention to detail to evoke the '50s atmosphere is fantastic, the black and white only adding to it. The acting is superb, if you can call what David Strahairn did acting. I felt throughout the entire film that I was watching Edward R. Murrow, not someone portraying him. Strathairn is a flawless actor who becomes the character he's playing and makes every mannerism, vocal rhythm, and cigarette puff totally organic. His Murrow is tough, with internalized anger and a dry sense of humor. "I'm busy bringing down your network tonight," he tells Paley as he refuses an invitation.
Frank Langella's William Paley is marvelous, a man who tries to walk the fence but ends up falling over to one side. I probably already knew somewhere in the recesses of my mind about Don Hollenbeck, the character well portrayed by Ray Wise; that story arc was telegraphed from the beginning. It might have been criticized for being a cliché, except of course it really happened. Hollenbeck's story was perhaps not fleshed out enough.
All in all, a brilliant achievement and a sad one. Without people like Murrow, journalism has changed, and not for the better? And the world? Though the names of the threats and their exploiters have changed, the fault, dear Brutus, still doesn't lie within our stars, but in ourselves.