Good Night, And Good Luck Review

In the first era directly after World War II, the American populace was scrambling to get things back to the way they were, to find comfort in normal life again. Of course, just as one war ended, another was brewing, this time between the U.S. and Russia in a Cold War that would span decades to come. This conflict created a panic among Americans for the potential presence of any Communist sympathizers in the United States who, in their minds, would bring with them the downfall of their country.  From this alarm (as well as, of course, plenty of other external factors) came the Joseph MacCarthy's rampant hearings accusing numerous individuals of having Communist ties or sympathies.

This kind of accusation was career and social suicide for anyone that fell prey to McCarthy's allegations, and when one such assertation is thought to be morally wrong by newscaster Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) and his news team, they step up to provide a major counterpoint against McCarthy and those enforcing his allegations in the government by way of broadcasts that challenge his viewpoints in a way that many had been afraid to do so beforehand. Undertaking such a journalism task isn't without its own perils, of course, especially from a professional standpoint.

That's the entire premise within Good Night, and Good Luck, a relatively simple movie that sticks to this one specific event without really diving into flashbacks or sequences set outside the newsroom. Maybe on another occasion that would be detrimental, but honestly, it works in the movies favor, since limiting the focus to solely Murrow and his fellow newscasters make it feel like these guys are entirely on their own in this mission, it really helps to reinforce their isolation in a world that has been quiet on this matter while they proceed to fully and publically rebel against a system they feel is unjust.

George Clooney and Grant Heslov's screenplay is restrained not only in its scale but also in how it presents its tale, relying on extended dialogue sequences and going for the quiet and impactful instead of the loud and brash, a fine decision that both the actors and Clooney as director handle with finesse. The scripts more subdued nature does seems to sacrifice some elements of drama though, such as a forbidden romance between two employees played by Robert Downey Jr. and Patricia Clarkson, that only has a hint of danger associated to it for most of the movie and then it ends on an easygoing note that can't help but feel anticlimactic.

But hey, most of you aren't here for doomed office romances, you're here to see a roster of strong acting talent delve into the intricacies of fighting back against 1950's paranoia, and on that front, Good Night, and Good Luck is most certainly a feat. It was a great idea to cast David Strathairn in the lead role since he so easily fits into that stern but trustworthy and knowledgeable persona that's associated with newscasters of that era. Plus, he's got a silky smooth voice that's always great to hear and the sharp dialogue he delivers gets its maximum emotional impact utilized under Strathairn's delivery. The ensemble cast is stacked to the brim with some strong talent too, including Clooney himself as a close confidant of Murrow's and the duo of Jeff Daniel and Frank Langella (always a treat to see Langella in any movie) as higher-ups at the network who are smartly depicted in the script as not over-the-top antagonistic caricatures but just normal human beings with understandable concerns about the endeavor Murrow is undertaking.

I appreciate that level of nuance in the depiction of those two characters and that's the kind of understated approach in its screenwriting that makes Good Night, and Good Luck work as well as it does. For instance, it doesn't try to cast Edward Murrow as a larger-than-life mythic figure, he's shown as what he is; a human being trying to do what he feels is morally right with the occupation and resources he has at his disposal. Similarly unobtrusive is the cinematography and production design, which replicate the visual aesthetic of the 1950's (even going so far as to film the entire movie in black-and-white) without ever having its attention to period era detail engulfing or replacing the deeper ideas the story grapples with that make Good Night, and Good Luck quite the intriguing watch.