Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)

• Review: *** ½ (out of ****)
• Starring: Jeff Daniels, David Strathairn, Patricia Clarkson, Robert Downey Jr., George Clooney, Ray Wise, Frank Langella, Tate Donovan, Reed Diamond, Glenn Morshower, Don Creech, Grant Heslov
• Director: George Clooney
• Screenplay: George Clooney, Grant Heslov
• Length: 93 min.
• MPAA Rating: PG (For mild thematic elements and brief language)

Before Walter Kronkite, the most trusted name on televisionwas Edward R. Murrow. He stood up for causes he believed in and elevatedjournalism to a new level. Good Night,and Good Luck focuses on his famed battle with Communist-hunter Sen. JosephMcCarthy.

David Strathairn captures every vocal pattern and nuance ofthe great Murrow and creates an indelible performance that helps buoy thesophomore effort of director, and burgeoning political activist, GeorgeClooney. Clooney also stars as Murrow’s supportive producer and friend FredFriendly.

Murrow was a great supporter of press freedom and the rightsof average Americans. It is through his valiant efforts and threatened securitythat we learn what a courageous individual he was. McCarthy investigated him,looked into the lives of his coworkers and generally did everything in hispower to try and bring his harshest critic down. We understand this through thenarrow view as presented by Clooney.

There are many strong scenes in Good Night, and Good Luck, but few resonate more than the onesinvolving Murrow’s attempts to highlight the irrationality of the Communistwitch hunt after a soldier is discharged because members of his family arelabeled Communist.

The film’s only downside is its inability to focus. Thecharacters of Shirley (Patricia Clarkson) and Joe Wershba (Robert Downey Jr.)are virtually unnecessary to the film’s theme. Joe and Shirley are secretlymarried despite the network’s rules against such. They may show that CBS wasn’tas forward-thinking as its liberal commentator but with the film barely topping90 minutes, they seem more like filler. Had the film focused more on Murrow vs.McCarthy, perhaps these characters wouldn’t have figured in at all.

Murrow’s efforts are part of the grand series of turningpoints that brought greater freedoms to Americans. Much of the film’s resonancelies in the parallelism to current events. At a time when American freedoms arebeing curbed in an effort to find terrorists (modern America’s Communists), films likethis serve a higher purpose.

We are constantly reminded of the adage “if we forgetthe past, we are doomed to repeat it”. History is filled with such repetitions.We never remember our past mistakes when attempting to progress forward. WhatClooney has done with Good Night, andGood Luck is remind us of the country’s past misdeeds as well as show usthe path out of it. Stand up and make your voice heard. Fight againstdiscrimination and against attempted governmental control of your lives. Don’tlet the War on Terror emerge as the 21st Century’s Red Scare despite thesimilar trajectory. Learn from past mistakes.

-Wesley Lovell (September 13, 2006)