Dry movie portrayal of a courageous man, and show

Rating: 7/10 (8 November 2005)

I have seen GNAGL one time, and may be acting hastily in reviewing it without seeing it again. The story -- Edward Murrow, a successful and affluent, if not wealthy, newsman risking his livelihood to take on Joe McCarthy -- is both compelling in its historical context and in the lessons it offers for today's leaders (who probably won't see the movie and who wouldn't heed its message if they did). But I found the narrative of the movie dry and uncompelling. I appreciated the choice of filming the movie in black and white (and scoring it with a sparse but effective "black and white" soundtrack of jazzy standards; the opening rendition of "When I Fall in Love" was the perfect mood setter). I wanted to see more background of the main characters -- both the newsmen, and the careers they had before this moment that brought them together, and McCarthy. The movie did not explore how, and why, McCarthy became so powerful, so quickly, in the first place; that was a filmworthy element that should have been emphasized, IMHO.
The performances were uniformly enjoyable, and the creation of the '50s environment was masterful, from the nerd-glasses to the cigarette commercials to the all-night gin joints. But at 98 minutes, the film didn't sate my thirst for the subject matter. I would have enjoyed another quarter hour, and there was story enough to provide it.