BuzzFlash Reviews

March 17, 2006

Good Night, and Good Luck (DVD)

BUZZFLASH REVIEWS

Before we get to the details, let's just say that if you like BuzzFlash, you'll love "Good Night, and Good Luck." We just want to be clear about that.

George Clooney won an Oscar for his role in "Syriana," but he proved his "A" list directorial credentials with this black and white period piece (which he also stars in and co-wrote). "Good Night, and Good Luck" is actually a tale of two periods, because Clooney details the courage of Edward R. Murrow, Fred Friendly and a team of broadcast journalists in exposing the witch-hunt of Joseph McCarthy, the "Junior Senator from Wisconsin." But Clooney directs the film with a lucid awareness of the parallel threat of McCarthy-like tactics in our current day.

Murrow -- who made his name when he broadcast WW II reports from London as the city was being bombed -- was the brave, succinct, eloquent journalistic voice of a generation. He knew war and death -- and was full of contempt for the straw man tactics of fear used by McCarthy. At one point, Murrow even tells his team of journalists who are being warned that they should reveal if they ever knew anyone who was a Communist: "You can feel the terror right here in the room now."

"Good Night, and Good Luck" opens and closes with a speech by Murrow, defiantly spoken at an evening thrown in his honor by broadcast executives, warning that television (even in the '50s) was becoming a vapid medium to "amuse, entertain and isolate" Americans.

Murrow knew personally of the transformation of broadcast journalism into a subsidiary role of television entertainment, because he was eased aside by William Paley, the legendary head of CBS, in the mid-50s. Paley wanted more revenue from advertisers, and entertainment shows brought in more revenue than controversial news programs.

But Murrow took advantage of a golden moment, just after the expansion of television into most American homes, to bring down a tyrant who was undermining our Constitution, our freedoms and our liberties.

Clooney -- down to the last shot of a television monitor in CBS headquarters that features a speech by President Eisenhower extolling the virtues of habeas corpus and the right to be publicly charged before being detained -- knows that in paying homage to Murrow, he is making the viewer aware that television news has evolved into a corporate advertising machine. No Murrow is likely to come to our rescue, because no media conglomerate wants to upset the status quo or threaten its brand identity with controversy.

As a bonus to the exploration of journalistic and political issues, "Good Night, And Good Luck" is a masterful re-entry into the feel of the early '50s, down to the sets, music and constant cigarette smoking. In short, it's not just a message film; it's a damn well-made film that tells a powerful story. And Clooney has a tremendously disciplined directorial and editing style.

The acting is all top notch. David Strathairn is brilliant as the solemn, driven, fearless Murrow.

We highly recommend purchasing the film with the riveting documentary of the Senate "Army" Hearings that were the final nail in McCarthy's political coffin, the "Point of Order" DVD (see above for information).

"Good Night, and Good Luck" is a film that sucks you into its mood and time before its credits are even finished.

BUZZFLASH REVIEWS