Good Night, And Good Luck- (Edward R. Murrow)

Good Night, And Good Luck

by PETER TRAVERS

Does George Clooney have a box-office death wish? You have to wonder why the star of Ocean’s Eleven would risk his standing as a pinup for ka-ching to direct, co-write and co-star in a movie set in the 1950s, shot in black-and-white and focused on a fifty-year-old battle between TV newsman Edward R. Murrow, indelibly played by David Strathairn, and the Commie-hunting Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

Wonder no more. Clooney knows exactly what he’s doing: blowing the dust off ancient TV history to expose today’s fat, complacent news media as even more ready to bow to networks, sponsors and the White House. As Murrow said in a 1958 speech, which frames Clooney’s dynamite film, the powers that be much prefer TV as an instrument to "distract, delude, amuse and insulate." Challenge is a loser’s game.

Not in this movie. In ninety-three tight, terrifically exciting minutes, Clooney makes integrity look mighty sexy. With the help of cinematographer Robert Elswit and editor Stephen Mirrione, Clooney turns the CBS newsroom into a hothouse of journalistic risk-taking. It’s exhilarating to watch as Murrow decides to use his CBS news show See It Now (it ran from 1951 to 1958) to call McCarthy’s bluff. Murrow persuades network boss Bill Paley (Frank Langella is a marvel of scary, seductive command) to hold the sponsors at bay while he and producer Fred Friendly (a subtly forceful Clooney) lay out a battle plan.

As a director, Clooney moves with admirable speed and economy. He sometimes tripped over his ambitions in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, his 2002 debut behind the camera. But here his hand is assured, his wit focused, his target never in doubt. This self-confessed "big old liberal," raised in the heat of media debate as the son of TV journalist Nick Clooney, is a born muckraker. With Good Night, and Good Luck -- the words used by Murrow to sign off his broadcasts -- Clooney emerges as a powerhouse filmmaker. The film only rarely leaves the CBS studios, but Clooney establishes the furtive atmosphere of the time. Reporter Joe Wershba (an avid Robert Downey Jr.) must hide his marriage to a fellow staff member (the reliably superb Patricia Clarkson) because of network rules. News anchor Don Hollenbeck (a deeply touching Ray Wise) is driven to suicide by a red-baiting columnist. Clooney has taken some flak for using singer Diane Reeves as a bridge between scenes, but her bold jazz stylings -- in the manner of George’s aunt Rosemary Clooney -- fit right in with the film’s insistence on upturning the standard version of history. These aren’t white guys in suits flexing their muscles to win ratings. These are newspeople flying by the seat of their pants for something they believe in, even if it costs them big time.

http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=8874

and he refused to spell out what it says about politics or journalism today.
He's letting the movie speak for him--like a mature artist would.
What Michael Moore does with a sledgehammer, Clooney does with a featherduster.

:(

think. I really put down the current news outlets, with his new worthy comments. He is a lot deeper than I gave him credit for.

Did the segment you watched go into his health problems? It was the most bizarre thing, his spinal fluid (the sack around the spine containing the spinal fluid had something wrong with it) was leaking
out of his nose, he thought he had a sinus infection. That really freaked me out! He had surgery to restore the area, but is in a lot of pain etc., a year after the surgery.

Maybe, that is what really pushed him to do the movie, he had to his house in Italy up for collateral to do it. Kudos GC.

Excellent movie. Reminds me a lot of Raging Bull, and not just because it's in black and white. The structure, bookended by the '58 Murrow speech like DeNiro rehearsing for his show at the beginning and end of the movie. Also the visual style of the shot reminds me a lot of Scorsese. Not to mention great performances, especially from the guy who played Hollenbeck. I was nearly moved to tears.

On the political side, I find it ironic how conservatives defend McCarthy and trash this movie. They're doing exactly the same things he did, preferring to trash and insult their opponents rather than engage in actual, intelligent debate. They also forget how McCarthy was so thoroughly discredited (Venona does little to back up his accusations) that he became a pariah in his own party. Even Nixon refused to have anything to do with him. And when you're too disreputable for Richard Nixon, you know you have serious problems.