Review of Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) by Richardb. — 18 Dec 2005
I wanted to like this movie. Its important that audiences today learn that American journalists can, and have, stood up to powerful men abusing their power. But somehow, the life-draining, period drag of this movie got in the way of what should have been an easy dramatization of a stirring real-life battle.
This is one colorless film, and not just because it's shot in black & white. Why,after about a half hour in, did I feel like I was watching a weak 30's melodrama, instead of an updated The Front Page or All The President's Men or Broadcast News? Movie journalists have rarely been this dull.
Was Ed Murrow really that constipated, such a self-important Shakespearean name-checker,so insufferably urbane? What did he do off the job, and how come we never saw how his wife and family figured in his career? In fact, why did we waste so much screen time on Robert Downey and Patricia Clarkson's secret marriage, at the expense of learning more about Murrow, or anything at all about Fred Friendly, or Bill Paley? What's especially weird is that stock footage Joe Mc Carthy becomes, by default, the most appealing character in the flick.
He's a red-blooded ranter, sometimes rabid, sometimes clever, but always a lot more human than you'd expect. I'm sure that's hardly the message George Clooney means to send his audience but, when it comes down to it, beasts'll beat bores every time.
Check out Emile de Antonio's 1964 documentary, Point of Order, if you want to know what really happened.
This review of Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) was written by Richardb. on 18 Dec 2005.
Good Night, and Good Luck. has generally received very positive reviews.
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