The 1950s, as director George Clooney portrays them in the extraordinary new film Good Night, and Good Luck, were a time of dangerous self-satisfaction. An endless, anonymous parade of smiling faces fills the first shots of this gorgeous black-and-white movie. The contrast between these people and the somber, chain-smoking Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn), whose life the film is based on, could not be greater.
Murrow was the legendary newsman whose remarkable career included live radio broadcasts during the London bombing blitz, a television anchor job on CBS’s “See It Now” and unflinching reports on the Communist witch hunts of Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. Rather than risk a surface treatment of his subject’s life, director/co-writer Clooney wisely focuses the film on Murrow’s work during the height of McCarthyism, when he was instrumental in exposing the senator’s shameless demagoguery.
“George’s intention from the get-go was not to make a bio-pic, but mostly to make [a movie] about the event,” said Strathairn, whose performance as Murrow is remarkable for its subtlety and feel. The film shows nothing of Murrow’s personal life, but that is not to say that Clooney and Strathairn show nothing of Murrow the person. Through the smallest gestures, inflections and largely imperceptible facial expressions that add up to more than the sum of their parts, Strathairn conveys a brave but not superhumanly courageous Edward Murrow. Strathairn describes Murrow as a man with “a driving desire to do the right thing,” but certainly not a man without moments of self-doubt.
Strathairn’s performance is a standout in a picture full of standouts; the ensemble cast includes Patricia Clarkson, Robert Downey, Jr. and George Clooney himself, as Murrow’s producer Fred Friendly. Veteran actors such as Frank Langella, as Murrow’s boss, and Ray Wise, as fellow anchor Don Hollenbeck, fill their characters with humanity. Wise, in particular, communicates the overwhelming sadness and tragedy of Hollenbeck’s life with just a forced smile and a quick glance.
In a film running only 93 minutes, Clooney could easily slip up, either by caricaturing the era or by making the supporting characters cardboard cutouts, but he does not. While this is only his second film as a director, George Clooney demonstrates the kind of power, aim and uncompromising vision that most filmmakers never develop. A black-and-white historical fiction piece about pioneering broadcast journalists might not be the most commercial topic, but it’s difficult to imagine a more vital one. In an era in which political disagreement is discouraged and even stifled, the film and the figure of Murrow himself serve as reminders to all Americans about the importance of patriotic dissent.
“George didn’t want to make a political movie; he just wanted to make a movie about a great American,” said Strathairn.
Clooney has succeeded with one of the best movies in years, a challenging, searing work that does Murrow’s legacy proud. Good Night, and Good Luck is a masterpiece with a devastating and timely message about the responsibility of journalists, the power of television and the importance of both for democracy. m
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