1.2.10

Monday Movie: Good Night, And Good Luck


It's the fifties, and Senator McCarthy is conducting a witch hunt against Americans he suspects of being 'card carrying' communists. Anyone who criticises him risks being accused themselves. But following on from a tangential story, incisive newsman Edward R. Murrow decides to tackle McCarthy head-on, even as his bosses warn him that they can get better ratings in much less risky ways.

George Clooney's second film as director is a far more sedate work than his energetic debut, with snappy banter and gorgeous black-and-white cinematography. Good Night, And Good Luck does little to explore the emotions of its characters or to try and provoke outrage - instead it's more of an urbane civics lesson, presenting Murrow's views on American discourse in his own eloquent words.

2 comments:

Zhoen said...

The birth and death of The News as an ideal. It would be reborn again a few times, only to die again and again.

gnome said...

I quite enjoyed the movie, despite sharing some of the reservations you seem to have about it. Then again the Cradle Will Rock was more of my kind of political film...