Super film - definitely Strathairn is the man to beat come Oscar time

Rating: 10/10 (20 November 2005)

I was only three when the events of the movie took place. I was enjoying my youth before starting my journey of 13 years of Catholic education with kindergarten looming on the horizon. Obviously, I wasn't aware of the Red Scare that Tailgunner Joe used to his advantage before he was brought down by Morrow and others.
Now, don't go to this movie expecting historical accuracy. Morrow himself admits that he was late in the game and there were many others that went after Joe McCarthy before he did. That is not important, as this is the story of a small group that set out to change the world and, as Margaret Mead said, that's the only way things get changed.
You can bone up on your McCarthy and Morrow history, or you can simply go to enjoy the movie. Good Night and Good Luck stands on its own as entertainment, and it is definitely the best film I have seen this year (Crash is number 2).
David Strathairn as Edward R. Morrow gives a performance that will be hard to top as qualifications for the Oscars hits full throttle. I have to admit that I hadn't seen him since L.A. Confidential. I'm going to have to catch up on some of the other movies he has done. I guess I could look for him when Heaven's Fall comes out - he plays the Judge in the trial of the "Scottsboro Boys." I am certainly going to stop by the video store to see if the have a copy of Twisted. I don't know how I missed that as I love Ashley Judd and Samuel L. Jackson. It should be great.
It is interesting to watch history and the Red Scare and the right-wing Senator who used it to his advantage. It is interesting because that same right-wing and their Red States are using the same tactics today. The blow-hards of the right - Hannity, Coulter, Limbaugh, and O'Reilly, among others - are branding anyone who doesn't agree with the government as traitors, just as they were branded communists in the 50s. Fortunately, they can't get away with it today as the blogoshphere keeps them honest - but they don't keep trying! One last and funny thing about the movie. Man, do they smoke! It seems that everyone had a cig going at all times. I haven't seen so much smoking in the movies since JFK.
Like the name of Morrow's show, you have to See It Now.