If you're looking for facts on the late Joseph McCarthy, avoid this film.

Rating: 2/10 (6 November 2005)

The only reason I gave this movie a 2 star rating is because of the acting. Factual inaccuracies aside, it did have a mostly good cast. As for the film itself there are a number of things that need to be pointed out that Mr. Clooney either didn't know or purposely left out in order to only show the viewer the story he wanted to see. The truth about McCarthy that many liberals choose to ignore is he DID uncover many Communists and Soviet agents. This can all be proved thanks to declassified Soviet Intelligence such as the Venona Files.
Alger Hiss, Harry Dexter White, Lauchlin Currie have each been confirmed to have been agents of the USSR, among any others. Also, we now know of at least three Congressmen working for the Soviet Union during this same time period. This Communist infiltration went far beyond the government and included such people as I.F. Stone, Michael Straight, Walter Duranty, Owen Lattimore, Edward Posniak, Mary Jane Keeney, Gustavo Duran, John Carter Vincent and Armand Hammer (who laundered money for the Soviets) were also agents of the Soviet Union. The Screen Actors Guild was also a union dominated by Communists. There lies the problem with this movie: It portrayed McCarthy's quest as a witch hunt when in fact he was right.
One person, Annie Lee Moss, is what Edward R. Murrow used as ammunition against McCarthy. He even devoted his weekly "See It Now" program to Mrs. Moss's plight. However, a year after McCarthy's death it was revealed that she WAS indeed the same Annie Lee Moss whose name and address appeared on the rolls of the local Communist Party, another fact neglected by this film. In the end, this is nothing but a propaganda piece using lies and half truths to further demonize the late Senator Joseph McCarthy. It's a shame, too. This could have been one of the best movies of the year if the director had bothered to do some research before making it.