Good Night and Good Luck

A smoky room; a stock reel pulling celluloid through a projector overlooking a conference room; smooth jazz supporting the smooth voices of Edward R Murrow (David Strathairn) and his crew led by Fred Friendly (George Clooney.) It is the reign of Joe Mccarthy and the war against communism, and CBS News are resistance fighters; and they are both afraid and brazen. After coming across a news story, the sparks fly as the line between investigating and persecuting grows thinner and the CBS crew defends the country through investigative reporting.

Tension describes the tenor of this film from the dry sound design, black and white photography and to the editing between the stock footage of the proceedings by the real Joe McCarthy to the smooth jazz performed beautifully by Dianne Reeves to the foxhole moments in the bullpens, the elevators and the pubs late in the night, illustrate how paranoid people were at that time and how engaged the conflict between the news and the senator became.

Strathairn's Murrow is brilliantly constructed, both as a soldier in the cause of excellence in media and as a combatant for justice for the persecuted. He is single minded, and has his eye on the prize, with little sympathy for the others in his foxhole, especially the newscaster that follows his show. Clooney's Friendly is savvy and warm, despite the lack of color on the screen. I am particularly awed by the juxtaposition between the actual stock footage and the main action in the story, as if I've been a fly on the wall for 93 minutes.

As a reflection, this kind of excellence in the news is hardly seen today. Sensationalism, as well as instant reporting through YouTube, Twitter and Facebook has limited our expectations; as well, our taste. We're also unwilling to expect excellence on both the big screen and our televisions. This film does not fit in with expectations today, it outstrips them. Perhaps we should expect more than an instrument that merely entertains, amuses and insulates...perhaps we should expect illumination, education and inspiration.

****

In: Robert Downey Jr

Out: Robert Knepper

Coming Soon: Hitman