Masterfully executed period piece with a point

Rating: 9/10 (6 May 2006)

Clooney has joined the ranks of Mel Gibson and Ron Howard as recent actors that have proved themselves capable of top-quality directing.
Good Night and Good Luck is a film about an aspect of American history that I care greatly about. So I was predisposed to be very critical, and I was hesitant, though excited, to see it.
The film, especially Strathairn's intense performance, and the great support from Clooney, Langella and Clarkson, exceeded my expectations greatly. I will enjoy seeing this again, and mining the DVD for commentary and supplementary material.
The connection of the McCarthy communist witch-hunts to today's 9-11 9-11 terrorist terrorist mindset should not be lost to the more free-thinking members of the audience, but you should not let the politics of the film distract you from the heroic story it tells and the principle point - which is expressed so ably in Murrow's acceptance speech for a journalism award at the beginning of the film - TV can be a great tool for education, but we should not confuse education and entertainment. The film is shot in black and white. This choice is not simply an attempt to give it 'that period feel', but it is also a profound metaphor for the press and the advent of television journalism. It also gives the few scenes that pit Murrow against McCarth in juxtaposition a sense of reality which could not be achieved any other way.
Well, Clooney has managed to make a film that is as entertaining as it is educational, and misses no opportunity to make its central argument clear.
I strongly recommend this film to anybody with even a passing interest in the politics of terror, the role of the media in American society, and the value of a free press.