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Good Night And Good Luck Movie Review - Edward R
Murrow Vs McCarthy Film
March 18th 2006
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Good Night and
Good Luck |
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Good Night,
and Good Luck is George Clooney's second attempt at directing (after
his poorly received film Confessions of a Dangerous Mind) a feature
film and sorry to say, at least for me, that it does not impress.
The film, which consists of an abundance of raw footage taken from
the actual hearings during the McCarthy era, but this film has less
to do with McCarthy as it does with Edward R. Murrow's attempts to
expose the McCarthy hearings for what they really were, a witch
hunt.
To bad its
nothing we all haven't heard before. Unlike 1991's Guilty By
Suspicion in which Irwin Winkler tackles the same subject matter
with more girth, Clooney leaves little room for the human effects of
the McCarthy era other then to show what motivates Murrow to take
chances as a journalist in playing McCarthy at every angle and
calling him out on his factless rants.
As a viewer I
was not impressed with being shown what I already knew about the
"Red Scare" and its effects on Hollywood and I kept finding myself
wanting to delve deeper into the lives of those around Murrow for
some kind of substance but finding only bits and pieces to absorb
with no real rewards.
My commitment
to this film was placated by the extraordinary performance of David
Strathairn as Murrow and the very short run time of 90 minutes.
Other then that the film was lacking. If your looking for the story
of the little man taking on the big man I'd suggest The Aviator and
if your looking for a good film about the McCarthy era I suggest
Guilty By Suspicion, a film which keeps the McCarthy hearings at its
core but wraps the subject with the face of human effect on those
who would be labeled communists in the 50's and their day to day
struggles.
By
Mark Ash
Freelance Writer
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