Review of Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) by Ben S — 07 Aug 2011

They could have left it at "Good Night", because this was putting me to sleep. No, it's not really that dull. However, it is a pure political-study film, so you have to go in prepared for hardly any climactic events and almost nothing but dialogue. Now, we're not dealing with something like the still superior "Zodiac", (Come on, it's David Fincher, so of course it's better) where we have a real mystery and consequences that are universally relateable, as well a style that's much more appealing and offbeat to general audiences. Almost everything about this film is directed towards the artsy, political demographic and isn't looking to entertain, but to study the political world and that, in it of itself, is the film's greatest flaw. Sure, the film is interesting, but it's not really exciting, having litte, if any rise or climax. Of course, that's not its only flaw, as it also suffers from a lack of development, slow spots and some overdrawn points.

Still, although there's little to the film, it does hold its share of impressive strengths, such as snappy dialogue, a good soundtrack, some snappy editing, decent sound editing and fine performances. Also, the pacing is fairly smooth and I cannot believe that I'm saying that about a movie directed by George Clooney. Thank goodness, because that was barely bearable in hyper-stylized biopic on a game show host/CIA assassin. I don't want to sound unsophisticated, but I can't imagine how horrible of an experience it would be to sit through a political-study-dialogue that feels twice as long as it actually is. Something else that I was impressed by was the black-and-white style to go with the '50s theme, which looks dead-on, but only to an extent. The black-and-white look is handsome, but could have dulled down the film even more, but thanks to very subtle, but still rather notable forms of fine technical value that still don't throw the theme off, the film's look doesn't get tedious. Man, seems like if you need a director with the perfect taste in unique, appropriate and stunning-looking cinematography, then David Fincher is your man. Of course, George Clooney's not bad either.

Ultimately, "Good Night and Good Luck" aims not to entertain, but to inform and if you are prepared for that, then you can expect to be fascinated by this fine study on politics and captivated by the handsome style.