SummaryGood Night, and Good Luck chronicles that real-life conflict between esteemed television newsman Edward R. Murrow (Strathairn) and Senator Joseph McCarthy. (Warner Independent Pictures)
SummaryGood Night, and Good Luck chronicles that real-life conflict between esteemed television newsman Edward R. Murrow (Strathairn) and Senator Joseph McCarthy. (Warner Independent Pictures)
It'll preach mainly to the choir - lazy thinkers won't attend, despite George Clooney's attachment as director and actor - but maybe it'll wake a few sleepers.
Seldom does a film pontificate such an intellectually prescient concept to their film the way "Good Night and Good Luck" did so brilliantly! To comprehend the full gist of this movie is to ruminate the prevailing era in this country during McCarthyism. What Edward R Murrow hoped to accomplish with his news show was to format objectivity in a manner whereby the truth on any given issue required a full perspective, and, not just one politician's point of view! Today, the dichotimizing of various philosophies concerning different positions on any given issue, seem relatively second nature to the dynamic of the news media, however, in 1954, it was an intrepidly new concept in which Edward R Morrow essentially gave birth to. To theorize on the veracity of any particular concept becomes an intellectual endeavor which broadens our horizons as Americans. Such an esoteric epigram from "Good Night and Good Luck" is what made this film so intellectually spellbinding! So often in films today, the fusillade of special effects supercedes the basic cerebral element of human nature. The success of most films are determined by their box office budget. Steve Soderbourgh and George Clooney attained a clairvoyant effervescence to decide to produce this film. "Good Night and Good Luck" effloresces into a precis for academic fervor in establishing the very real purpose of television. Edward R Murrow became the single biggest purveyor for unprecedented accuracy in the news world of television just by virtue of delving into every angle of a volatile, and formerly misunderstood issue. Issues such as Communist paranoia, which was vehemently advocated by Joe McCarthy! It was probably the hacked out stoicism to predetermined news programming which Edward R Murrow wished to severely abbreviate. Murrow's philosophy of the news was to conceptualize the aggregate circumstances to a news story to determine the accuracy and significance of the actual controversy pertaining to this news item. Newsworthiness became a prerogative of every American in the United States after Murrow's entrance in the news realm of professionalism. The fact is, the truth is multi faceted, and the simple mendacity to the American News Media, is that is was not represented by that criteria! What was placatory doggerel back then, became hard bitten reality thanks to Edward R Murrow. By 1954, it was time for stilted national heroism to be dragged down from the soap box and revolutionized to the paradigm which accommodated the overall wishes of the American public. For now, television was not just about ratings and innocuous entertainment, it was incumbent upon someone such as Edward R Murrow to introduce the informative element of television as a foundation to enhance professional integrity. The visceral outlook in which the film "Good Night and Good Luck" assumed was an intelligent and an enlightening perspective that brought the birth of prolific news media coverage to the American people. Was this film exciting? No! It could not possibly be. This movie is about the truth, and, the truth is not exciting. The truth is stubborn, the truth is wry as well as abrasive, but, most of all, the truth is a necessary evil which keeps our eyes wide open to determine the full scope of political philosophy as opposed to another. This acute presentation of fundamental principals and policies which Edward R Murrow established as a precedent for news anchormen in the ensuing years ahead, made the film "Good Night and Good Luck" a cogently accurate account of how Americans have dissected the accuracy of hard bitten news on television. The film "Good Night and Good Luck" is unbelievably brilliant in the overall premise by which it purveys. Put it this way: Christopher Columbus discovered America, and Edward R Murrow discovered objectivity for television news shows. While I thought this film was fabulous, if people didn't like it, it is good in some ways, mostly because we do not realize how much we have taken the privilege of a well rounded perspective on a political issue for granted., therefore, we do not perceive that this film was groundbreaking in any way, but,, it most assuredly was! A simple solution for a seemingly complicated issue is merely a simple response! This movie "Good Night and Good Luck" is what made me just say that. One more thing, make sure you go out there and vote!!
I confess that I didn't really like this movie the first time I saw it, but I felt that it was not the time to evaluate it, because I wasn't fully aware and expected something different. After a few years, I watched the film again, with a different mindset, other expectations and more prepared for what I was about to see. The result was totally different: I loved this movie.
The film is set in the period of the Cold War, and addresses the fear that many North Americans had of communist activities on American soil, mainly of communists who were supposed to be infiltrated within the government, army and high finance. The face of all fear was, for years, Senator McCarthy, who gave substance and voice to a policy of purging suspected communists from the state apparatus. In a short time, suspicion became widespread and even the most unsuspected were under scrutiny for things as trivial as having a communist friend or having attended an activity promoted by communists. Against this situation, so bizarre that it goes against our notion of democracy, stood up journalist and television anchor Edward R. Murrow, from CBS News. On his television show "See it Now", he will do a job of deconstructing Senator McCarthy's allegations, questioning his methods and way of thinking.
The film works wonderfully and manages to get the message across very well. However, it is one of those films that has the problem of only working for those who already know the basics of what is going to be talked about: the Cold War, the "Red Peril", McCarthyism. Anyone waiting for the movie to explain something about it or make some sort of introductory note will miss it. Therefore, I recommend to those less versed in contemporary history a brief read before the film. The film addresses yet another subject, albeit much more superficially: the advent of TV and television journalism, of which Murrow was one of the first great figures in the US.
George Clooney is, in this film, an almost omnipresent figure, since he is responsible for the direction, the script and for one of the main characters of the plot. Impeccable as always, the actor does a very good job. The cast is intelligently led by David Strathairn in the lead role. The actor is competent, charismatic, intense, sharp and skillful, giving us, in this film, the strongest interpretation of his career. Also Robert Downey Jr. And Patricia Clarkson deserve an applause for their work. Most of the cast smokes a lot, but that was something really common at the time.
On a technical level, the film makes a strong impact as it is entirely in black and white. It was something I didn't expect the first time I saw the film, but it made perfect sense when I saw it again... in addition to immediately transporting us to the time in question, the feature allowed the original black-and-white scenes perfectly match the film, as if they were one and the same. It doesn't have a very noticeable soundtrack, but the jazz themes chosen for the soundtrack are really good.
A solid achievement, but those in the press who have been trumpeting its greatness may be going in for a bit of self-congratulation. The movie plays very well to the choir.
Where "Quiz Show" elevated its story to the level of Shakespearean tragedy, Clooney's film is too lightweight to reach such tragic heights. In part, it's too short--at 90 minutes, including musical interludes and lengthy monologues taken whole-cloth from the historical record, Good Night breezes by effortlessly when it really needs time and space to build up to appropriately epic dimensions.
The fight against the powerful takes bravery, such as shown Edward R Murrow and the people he worked during the witch-hunts of McCarthyism. "Good Night and Good Luck" displays that fight brilliantly. George Clooney gives his best directorial work and David Strathairn as Murrow gives his best performance to date, in one of the best films about journalism since "All The Presidents Men". It may not be high flying sensationalistic twists and turns, but all the little details, the beautiful black and white cinematography, and the great cast of a number of known names, add up to a compelling piece, and a timeless story about what it takes to stand up for what's right.
a provocative homage to the martyrs who lived..
Good Night, And Good Luck There is a lot of content to offer to the audience in a very short and smartly timed, which can be off putting as it doesn't allow the audience to breathe and let it all sink in. It is accurately infomercial and highly adaptive but if considered as a dramatic act, there isn't much installed art to explore in here. The adaptation is smart and has a gripping screenplay keeping the audience engaged throughout its 90 minutes offering the audience enough homework to work on it which is fortunately worth in here too. George Clooney; the screenwriter and director, has done an excellent work on creating the '50s corporate world and the characters that revolves around it. David Strathairn is convincing in here and is supported well too by an amazing cast like George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr. and Jeff Daniels. It is short on technical aspects like sound department and art design, but scores majestically on its amazing cinematography and brilliant camera work; it is shot beautifully. Good Night And Good Luck is a provocative homage to the martyrs who lived in the battlefield despite of ever entering one or preparing for one for that matter.
The acting is great, but this film is classic director George Clooney for me. It is a very interesting subject matter that moves at a snail's pace and all interest in the story is lost, ultimately winding up being a quite boring film. I wanted to like it, but I simply cannot.
However, I felt as though the black and white worked well, as I said before, the acting was really well done, and I really liked the blending of the real newscasts with the events going on in the screening room.
Given the relevant subject matter and the talent involved, it's quite surprising that Good Night, and Good Luck is such an inert film. A large part of this seems due to the rudderless direction and writing of George Clooney who can't seem to find the proper approach for the material. Strathairn is excellent as Murrow, but he's stuck in a movie where no one seems to realize that the mere depiction of the events don't qualify this as a great movie. Things like complexity, passion, characters and plotting matter too.
Simply put This film is just devoid of all life. The Story is very disjointed, with most subplots having no baring on the overall narrative; Characters feel bland and have no real depth or personality; and there is zero character development across the entire cast. nothing memorable really happens in this movie; nothing that you couldn't have learned more efficiently from a single history lecture anyway. This movie settles for telling you what's supposed to be important rather than showing it, major plot points are dropped on you in the third act with no foreshadowing, and character relationships aren't fleshed out beyond them claiming to be friends. The film's overall presentation is about as bland as a movie can be; the entire film is set indoors, and only a handful of different locations are used. The claustrophobic setting eliminates the possibility of any creative or interesting camera work, meaning that the majority of the film is just shot reverse shot dialogue. The black and white color scheme may seem endearing, but combined with the already drab setting it just makes the film feel even more dead. All and all this film was clearly only given so much praise because it's a "smart movie". It's slow paced, and completely built around dialogue, therefore you must be really intelligent if you like it; but in truth almost any other drama is better than this.