Good Night, and Good Luck

See it now.

The latest in a long line of terrific movies offered at The Eveningstar, Good Night, and Good Luck documents CBS Newsman, Edward R. Murrow, and his co-producer, Fred Friendly, as they challenge the methods of Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy during the 1950's Anti-American hearings.

Directed and co-written by co-star George Clooney, Good Night takes us inside the production rooms of CBS' See it Now, the first television newsmagazine. Murrow and Friendly run a series of programs that questions the crusade to locate and out communists. The themes of this film have parallels in today's US, where Constitutional rights are routinely cast aside in the name of "national security". Murrow and crew soldier on, knowing that they will themselves come under scrutiny and attack from Senator McCarthy. They are also aware that they are risking the very existence of their show, as neither the network nor the show's sponsor (Alcoa) is all that keen on a series of programming that takes on the Federal government. Still, Murrow's unquestioned integrity, and the decision to primarily tell the story with footage of McCarthy himself, swiftens the turning tide against McCarthy that results in his ultimate censure by the Senate. The members of the CBS news staff are not without tragedies of their own, and the show itself loses it's prime-time viability when Alcoa pulls out.

The film captures the stress of this endeavor. Filmed in black and white and featuring a lush jazz soundtrack, the movie sports the feel of the 1950's. However, rather than the white-bread Happy Days America that we have come to define the decade, we see that not all is well in the US. Isolated to the tight confines of the newsroom, the board room and the barroom (all of which are filled with the smoke from infinite cigarettes), the tension is palpable. David Strathairn gives a magnificent turn as Murrow, capturing the newsman's resolve but also revealing the underlying nerves that are plying at his insides. Clooney also gives a solid performance as Friendly, however it is his work behind the camera, particularly his choice to use actual McCarthy archival footage, that gives the film its oompf. The entire cast, which also includes the always-terrific Patricia Clarkson and Robert Downey, Jr., give first rate performances.

Good Night, and Good Luck will likely stay in theaters longer than most so-called Independent films (the film is a production of Warner Independent Films, as in AOL Time Warner, so I'm not sure that I would classify this as a true "independent" endeavor). I encourage all to see it for the rich production, gripping performances, and timely history lesson.