The smoky black and white milieu of recent release “Good Night, and Good Luck” offers an excellent contrast to a script that evokes debates that are anything but. George Clooney’s second directorial effort takes form as a docudrama on heroic newsman Edward R. Murrow’s public challenge of demagogue Joe McCarthy at the height of the Red Scare. The admirable and intelligent chronicle provides a lesson in one of the famous events in American History with implications that are relevant today.
Clooney’s direction brings us a stylized world shrouded in a plume of cigarette smoke in crisp black and white with cool jazz setting a sleek tone. Altogether, the concise effort is skillfully crafted in a tight and rhythmic manner, conveying the brevity of the situation and the proficiency exhibited by oft-deliberate characters.
Murrow is played competently by David Strathairn, who takes on the challenging role of adding depth to the stalwart, but seemingly dull character. Strathairn conjures a tangible Murrow, one whose dry wit and humor seems as unlikely from a pillar of integrity as his fallibility that is conveyed. He chain smokes his way, on air and off, through the tense events in purposeful efficacy as he is endeared to his colleagues, society and the audience alike.
The plot, which takes place almost exclusively in the CBS studios and offices, centers around only those involved with the production of the TV show, “See it Now,” with convincing performances from Clooney, as producer and confidant, Fred Friendly and Frank Langella, as network chief, William Paley. The junior senator from Wisconsin is left to play himself, present in actual footage. The clever technique proves quite effective, though preview audiences reportedly felt his performance was over the top and overacted, a fact that hopefully does not keep McCarthy from a posthumous Oscar nomination.
One might expect that a film with such a tangible past – it is set about a half a century ago – would be steeped in nostalgia, but none is present here. Instead, the plot pulls the audience forward in a deliberate nature, creating a sense of urgency and immediacy that brings the issues to the forefront of thought and relevance.
The depiction of Murrow’s noble struggle against McCarthyism, and thus the integrity of television, begs the question of what we have let the medium become in present times. It signifies the kind of journalism missing from contemporary broadcasts, with the former reigning supreme in clear directed intelligence with the ability to affect change.
As for the entertainment value of the film, some may find it lacking. Clooney nobly sticks to the facts, avoiding the temptation of including hokey romances and contrived drama. There is a minor sub-story of concealed marriage between producer Shirley (Patricia Clarkson) and reporter Joe Wershba (Robert Downey Jr.), but it is completely factual and sheds light on the furtive environment of the times.
In light of this, the effort caters more to those accustomed to History Channel documentaries rather than sensationalized remembrances such as “Pearl Harbor” and “Titanic.” However, this fact should not dissuade moviegoers, as the unlikely drama is one of the more compelling in recent memory.
“Good Night, and Good Luck” seeks to remind us that we are long removed from the days of Murrow and Cronkite, and amounts to an essay editorializing the fall of television. We are left pondering this fall along with the general complacency of the American public and are compelled to demand integrity from our broadcasts. The need to transform our boob tubes back into more worthwhile machines has been made evvident, and is an endeavor that certainly requires a good deal of good luck.
Leave a Reply