Special Features
Good Night, and Good Luck Needs a Little Luck
By Lynne Regent |
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 Hollywood pet projects. With the best of intentions, acclaimed filmmakers can get so involved in their work that the project not only doesn't perform well at the box office, but the finished film also doesn't communicate what the filmmaker hoped it would. George Clooney's Good Night, and Good Luck, while a good film, ultimately falls flat in its efforts to tell the story of legendary CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow.
Instead of serving as a kind of biopic, Good Night concentrates on Murrow's 1950s feud with Joseph McCarthy, the Wisconsin senator in charge of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations who seemingly will stop at nothing to rid the country of communists. Murrow, who believes McCarthy had something to do with a recent military dismissal of a U.S. navy pilot who has communist sympathizers in his family, investigates the connection in a controversial broadcast of his newsmagazine "See It Now." CBS gives McCarthy the chance to respond, and the rest of the film sees Murrow and his team preparing for the most important broadcast of their careers, all the while fighting allegations of harboring communist sympathies themselves.
 The film was shot in black and white, among other reasons to accommodate the use of archival footage of Sen. McCarthy, who plays himself. It is beautiful to look at--radiating and mimicking the elegance of a bygone era in television. (And maybe the decision was not commercially viable, but the film in its present state is hard to imagine in color.)
Sadly, it is Clooney and producer Grant Heslov's script that just can't decide where it ultimately wants to go. More than anything, Good Night, and Good Luck examines a period of history without truly saying anything conclusive or worthwhile about it at all.
Perhaps worrying the film might provoke a firestorm of criticism from right-wing pundits--including those he has publicly feuded with in the past--Clooney most worked to create something objective. It is interesting that Clooney would decide to focus on just a brief period of Murrow's life--a good move, in my opinion. But then that material that does get its moment in the spotlight is so convoluted and packed to the brim that it distorts the film's purpose.
 For example, we see too much of Murrow's team without getting enough insight into Murrow himself. We watch onscreen as Murrow shows us his guiding moral compass, but we don't know from whence it came. (The newsman grew up in a Quaker abolitionist household.) Instead of narrating this kind of information--a la Taylor Hackford's Ray--the film provides interesting but peripheral subplots, like the against-network-rules marriage of CBS producer Joe Wershba (Robert Downey Jr.) to colleague Shirley Wershba (Patricia Clarkson), which don't give the audience time to connect with any of its characters, least of all its main man. And we never once see Murrow with his family.
Even given so little to work with, David Strathairn (The Firm, Eight Men Out) is spot-on as Murrow. Strathairn says he didn't attempt to mimic Murrow so much as interpret him in the film; the result is a believable portrayal of an iconic man, surely a daunting task considering Murrow's mannerisms and phrases are immediately recognizable to older generations. As Murrow, Strathairn is unrelenting, somewhat aloof and undeniably interesting. For his work in the film, he won the best actor award at this year's Venice Film Festival.
 The rest of the cast is excellent as well and includes Jeff Daniels as Sig Mickelson (at the time, head of the CBS Network News and Public Affairs division) and--of course--Clooney as "See It Now" co-producer Fred Friendly. There are certain finishing touches to the film, like the CBS news team's seemingly insatiable passion for nicotine (and a hysterical cigarette commercial to boot) and the boys tendency to interrupt each other at every given moment, that give the film its sense of urgency and romance. The touches are appreciated, but are they enough?
Overall, Good Night, and Good Luck is a valiant effort, but not for the uninformed audience. The film does not tell you what to look for, and to make it engaging, you must be prepared to look for whatever "it" is yourself.
Good luck.
Good Night, and Good Luck is now playing in limited release.
For more information on the film, visit wip.warnerbros.com/goodnightgoodluck.
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