Bare to the bone, but all the better for it

Rating: Null/10 (4 November 2006)

With his second directorial effort, George Clooney made a marvelously stylish film. Filmed in crisp black and white, the story focuses on the battle that took place between the already legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) and senator Joseph McCarthy (real archive footage was used for his portrayal) in the early days of broadcast journalism. George Clooney and co-writer Heslov largely took their material from Murrow's broadcasting program "See it Now", which aired for six years at CBS, beginning in 1951. When Murrow launched his first attack on McCarthy in 1953, exposing his tactics on American television, McCarthy turned on Murrow and accused him of communist sympathies as well.
Clooney, whose father was a news anchor and almost pursued a career in broadcast journalism himself, has a keen eye for detail, with his loving and accurate recreation of the fifties television studio, the fashions and the habits of Murrow. One of those small but key elements is the smoking, everyone is smoking like mad. A constant smokescreen. But it never becomes a stiff or dull period piece, it all looks incredibly vivid.
Many parallels with the current position of the media have been drawn, but the film never becomes an outspoken pamphlet against lackluster right wing media moguls. Clooney dissects his subject to the bare bone, with perhaps the inevitable consequence the film is somewhat distancing at times, emotionally speaking.
David Strathairn is perfect as Edward R. Murrow, with just the right tone and intonation in his voice to deliver the sly wit and intelligence of Murrow with great intensity. This is great film-making in all departments, and it takes a lot of courage and persistence to make a project like this. In more than one way, a film that gives us something to think about. A rarity in these days.
Camera Obscura --- 9/10