Friday, February 10, 2006
MOVIE REVIEW: Good Night, and Good Luck
Movie Overview: “In the early 1950's, the threat of Communism created an air of paranoia in the United States and exploiting those fears was Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. However, CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow and his producer Fred Friendly decided to take a stand and challenge McCarthy and expose him for the fear monger he was.”
If you don’t like movies that make you think don’t bother seeing this movie. George Clooney’s direction and script (with Grant Heslov) assume that the audience can think for themselves. Shot in black and white, screen filled with the cigarette smoke, and with camera angles that make us feel the pressure that befell the leading protagonists, we get to see why doing the right thing can be so hard, and how being a zealot with power can be so corrupting (um… does it remind you of anyone today?)
Good Night, and Good Luck is a terrific film about one of the scariest periods in American history. It shows how one man with too much power could have turned the US into an ugly place – he did, but only temporarily – and how one man with integrity was able to stop him.
The movie has an excellent cast of very familiar actors, all turning in fine performances. David Strathairn in the lead role deserved the Oscar nomination he received. But the scene-stealer is the villain himself, Senator McCarthy. The actual footage of the Senator is striking and effective and no amount of clever script writing or great acting could have outdone him. Once I saw this footage, my thoughts were: move over Darth Vader.
Priceless Scene: Every scene with Frank Langella as William Paley is priceless.
If you don’t like movies that make you think don’t bother seeing this movie. George Clooney’s direction and script (with Grant Heslov) assume that the audience can think for themselves. Shot in black and white, screen filled with the cigarette smoke, and with camera angles that make us feel the pressure that befell the leading protagonists, we get to see why doing the right thing can be so hard, and how being a zealot with power can be so corrupting (um… does it remind you of anyone today?)
Good Night, and Good Luck is a terrific film about one of the scariest periods in American history. It shows how one man with too much power could have turned the US into an ugly place – he did, but only temporarily – and how one man with integrity was able to stop him.
The movie has an excellent cast of very familiar actors, all turning in fine performances. David Strathairn in the lead role deserved the Oscar nomination he received. But the scene-stealer is the villain himself, Senator McCarthy. The actual footage of the Senator is striking and effective and no amount of clever script writing or great acting could have outdone him. Once I saw this footage, my thoughts were: move over Darth Vader.
Priceless Scene: Every scene with Frank Langella as William Paley is priceless.
