Good Night, and Good Luck

"Good Night, and Good Luck" is one of those great movies that I will tell you about, but you won't go see. Nominated for multiple Golden Globes (Drama, Actor, Director, Screenplay), "Good Night" plays like a classic, and fills that role even more so by filming in black and white with a cool jazz background. It also runs like a documentary, which for me was more of a negative than positive.

Starring David Strathairn as Edward R. Murrow, the story focuses on the early days of television network news and the battle between Senator Joseph McCarthy and Murrow in McCarthy's efforts to expose Communists hiding in America. Just as randomly as McCarthy is to accuse anyone of being a Communist, Murrow is deliberate in working to show McCarthy's unethical tactics. There was a high level of paranoia running throughout the country. Simply questioning McCarthy could lead to accusations of being a traitor. Murrow, along with his producer Fred Friendly (George Clooney), decide enough is enough and begin to breakdown the wall of fear that McCarthy has created. This leads to issues within the CBS Corporation itself and threatens to dig up history on anyone associated with the company.

The movie really is a great story about network news and politics. If, however, you have no interest in either topic, you will probably be pretty bored. Clooney also directs, and uses quite a bit of actual newsreel footage throughout, including all scenes with McCarthy. That's where the documentary feel comes in, and seemed to be a bit overdone at points. There is also a side story involving a couple trying to keep their marriage a secret in order to keep their jobs at CBS that seemed more distracting than relevant. All in all, every character is well played, and Strathairn is certainly deserving of any and all nominations he receives for his role. But again, unless you're into a black and white retelling of a newsman vs. politician story, you're more likely to say "goodbye" than to see "Good Night". I give it a B.

"Good Night, and Good Luck" is rated PG with a running time of 90 minutes.