More Practice

Here I am practicing writing reviews.

Good Night and Good Luck gives us an insider's view to key events in Murrow's life surrounding his attempt to discredit Joseph McCarthy at a time where he used his power as senator to find communist sympathizers. The film has a gimmick. Real footage is used from McCarthy's day. While there's power in seeing material that Americans saw in the early 50's, it's also forces Clooney to make another decision, which is to keep all attention to the CBS crew.

This means that we, the audience, miss out on the reaction Americans had during this time. While Clooney's point may be for us to imagine what it was like then, and to perhaps hint that this kind of behavior by the government (accusations of loyalty to the U.S. based on your associations) is an allegory for those who are against the Iraq war, it really misses out on the fact that we, unlike Americans of the day, are aware of this event.

Even if most Americans who didn't live through the red scare often know this in the back of our heads, and any attempt by our government to do something on that scale would be mostly rebuffed, except perhaps Clooney may believe otherwise.

Strathairn's portrayal of Murrow is uncanny. Admittedly, the film veers into cool. Members of the CBS crew hang out listening to an African American sing jazz. Murrow is on a one-man mission to get cancer by the end of the film, puffing then quickly inhaling the smoke. He's shown as an icon, but that makes him inscrutable. It plays to good effect when post-interview he sits, looking weary, realizing entertainment news pays the bills. It's perhaps the most masterful thing the film does, even in its tiny way.

Regrettably, the "you are there" at CBS doesn't convey just the effect Murrow's speeches had. We never see typical Americans, nor McCarthy behind the scenes, nor scenes in the Senate, which create an oddly hermetic feeling. Surely, Clooney thought we'd understand just the kind of panic people were in during the red scare by CBS employees only, e.g., Joe Wershba (Robert Downey, Jr.) panicking about loyalty oaths or Don Hollenbeck (Ray Wise) committing suicide. But it didn't work for me. It felt something like a dream of yesteryear, a jazzy reminisce as if transported in time to another era.