Good Night and Good Luck (2005)
Country: US/FR/GB/JAP
Technical: bw 93m
Director: George Clooney
Cast: David Strathairn, Patricia Clarkson, George Clooney, Robert Downey Jnr, Jeff Daniels, Frank Langella, Ray Wise
Synopsis:
With McCarthy's hysterical persecution of suspected Communists reaching fever point, the Ed Morrow current affairs team on CBS runs a programme on the ostracism of a flier from the USAF and the stage is set for a showdown between public service broadcasting and the concerns of the sponsors.
Review:
This understated, 'factualized' account of a critical moment in TV history, a moment which the bookends leave us in no doubt has everything to do with the dumbing down of home entertainment, gets nose to nose with its protagonists so that the stubble, the sweat, the pulling on cigarettes become an iconic reminder of countless noirs of the period. Murrow is indeed lionized, but it is such a self-effacing performance, as if in deference to Clooney's own self-effacement, that it hardly matters; and the support is exemplary, with the only quibble being some indistinct delivery. Intelligent film making, flawlessly upholstered in unostentatious period trappings, and a piece which, in its dramatically unassuming way, raises all sorts of questions to be mulled over later.
Country: US/FR/GB/JAP
Technical: bw 93m
Director: George Clooney
Cast: David Strathairn, Patricia Clarkson, George Clooney, Robert Downey Jnr, Jeff Daniels, Frank Langella, Ray Wise
Synopsis:
With McCarthy's hysterical persecution of suspected Communists reaching fever point, the Ed Morrow current affairs team on CBS runs a programme on the ostracism of a flier from the USAF and the stage is set for a showdown between public service broadcasting and the concerns of the sponsors.
Review:
This understated, 'factualized' account of a critical moment in TV history, a moment which the bookends leave us in no doubt has everything to do with the dumbing down of home entertainment, gets nose to nose with its protagonists so that the stubble, the sweat, the pulling on cigarettes become an iconic reminder of countless noirs of the period. Murrow is indeed lionized, but it is such a self-effacing performance, as if in deference to Clooney's own self-effacement, that it hardly matters; and the support is exemplary, with the only quibble being some indistinct delivery. Intelligent film making, flawlessly upholstered in unostentatious period trappings, and a piece which, in its dramatically unassuming way, raises all sorts of questions to be mulled over later.
Country: US/FR/GB/JAP
Technical: bw 93m
Director: George Clooney
Cast: David Strathairn, Patricia Clarkson, George Clooney, Robert Downey Jnr, Jeff Daniels, Frank Langella, Ray Wise
Synopsis:
With McCarthy's hysterical persecution of suspected Communists reaching fever point, the Ed Morrow current affairs team on CBS runs a programme on the ostracism of a flier from the USAF and the stage is set for a showdown between public service broadcasting and the concerns of the sponsors.
Review:
This understated, 'factualized' account of a critical moment in TV history, a moment which the bookends leave us in no doubt has everything to do with the dumbing down of home entertainment, gets nose to nose with its protagonists so that the stubble, the sweat, the pulling on cigarettes become an iconic reminder of countless noirs of the period. Murrow is indeed lionized, but it is such a self-effacing performance, as if in deference to Clooney's own self-effacement, that it hardly matters; and the support is exemplary, with the only quibble being some indistinct delivery. Intelligent film making, flawlessly upholstered in unostentatious period trappings, and a piece which, in its dramatically unassuming way, raises all sorts of questions to be mulled over later.