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Good Night, and Good Luck
Good Night, and Good Luck is another of the many true stories doing the rounds at the moment, and it's one of the better ones.
In this reporter's opinion, Good Night, and Good Luck is a cracking movie and well worth checking out if you like a good realistic atmosphere without the whizzbangs and pyrotechnics. I enjoyed this film: I think the average moviegoer will enjoy it: Testosterone Satisfaction Rating: To enjoy this film you should be: in no need of a testosterone fix.
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In the 1950s, Ed Murrow was a news anchor for CBS in a time of communist paranoia typefied by draconian commie-catcher
Senator Joe McCarthy. Eternal supporting actor David Strathairn slicks his hair down and
steps up to the plate as leading man Murrow and looks like he's been there all his life, becoming a suave and debonair
newsman of the era like a penguin takes to a glacier. George Clooney supports as Murrow's right hand man and also directs,
his first movie in the chair since 2002's Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. He's clearly got a talent for this kind of
movie, injecting as he does 10cc of drama into an innately dull subject. Robert Downey Jr's role does not plop without a
ripple into the river of the plot - it feels tacked on - but he still delivers a vibrant performance, showing he's still
a top class performer. In fact Clooney teases marvellous performances from all his employees, with particular credit
going to Ray Wise, a busy actor who's struggled in the past to breach the radar of most viewers, languishing in the mire
of TV series for most of his career.
It's the atmosphere that makes Good Night, and Good Luck so good - the newsrooms are chatty and chaotic, the black and white
film assists the chronology and the archive footage grounds the movie in reality. Done carelessly, the grainy shots of
real-life senator Joe McCarthy could have been clumsy and disruptive, but they are all shown on TV screens, with the
characters watching, so it actually adds to the authenticity. The hour and a half zips past, which is quite an impressive
feat considering the political and sedate content and the lack of variation throughout. It's gripping stuff, made all the
more so by the fact that it really happened - the genuine McCarthy footage is hard to take your eyes off. It's up for
six Oscars - Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Original Screenplay, Best Art Direction and
David Strathairn is up for Best Leading Actor. For my money, if it wins Best Art Direction, justice has been done.
