A 'Goodnight' for Clooney

Rating: 10/10 (16 January 2006)

Goodnight, and Good Luck: ****
'Goodnight, and Good Luck,' written and directed by George Clooney with Grant Heslov, is a wonderful portrayal of the battle between Edward R Murrow and Sen. Joeseph McCarthy in the 1950's. This battle has become legendary, and while not every may know Murrow, they certainly have heard of McCarthy. I do not feel unfair to state here that McCarthy was a bully, an intimidator, and quite possibly an unstable man. He terrorized many innocent citizens unjustly, and it is shocking to still see that there are people who support his actions. Yes, it's true. Clooney, who's father was a newscaster, clearly has a handle for the procedures and processes of the early newsrooms. The sets are excellent in showing the tight spaces. The image that comes to mine here is of Clooney, playing Fred Friendly, tapping Murrow's (Strathairn) knee to signal the on-air cue. The performances here are outstanding. Everyone does a fantastic job, especially Strathairn. No one feels out of place, everyone nails their characters and the result is that you actually feel as if you have been put back in time and are watching it unfold all over again. The choice to go black and white for cinematography was perfect. And it works so well, because it enhances the best performance of all in this movie. That performance is of Sen. Joe McCarthy, played by, dum da da da, Sen. Joe McCarthy. The inter-cutting of archive footage works wonderfully here. Why hire an actor, when you capture the mood by using the real man. It was reported that some people walked out of the screenings claiming that the guy playing McCarthy was overacting. Well, he was. McCarthy overacted and overplayed the communist threat and took it out on many people who were never part of that threat, a threat, which was never really a threat to begin with. 'Goodnight, and Goodluck' is one of the better films of the year, and is certainly one of the most important. Not only is this a film about McCarthy, this is a film about values, exploitation, and the misused power of television. Murrow discusses the role of television, and the preference for entertainment over education. What if we did, as he suggests, move some of these prime time entertainment slots and replace them with shows promoting education, political issues and the like? Would we do any more harm to ourselves than to become a little more enlightened on issues that are important to the state of the world? This is one of the films of the year that should not be missed. It is not an isolated piece connected only with Murrow and McCarthy. There are important connections to be made with our society today, and the American war on "terrorists" and their sympathizers. 10/10, big thumbs up.