It should be so easy to write George Clooney off. There were the endless sitcom appearances ("Roseanne," "Facts of Life"); there were terrible movies before he became famous (Return of the Killer Tomatoes) and after (Batman and Robin).
The guy should be a punchline.... but he's not. He's cool, self-deprecating and very astute.
While Confessions of a Dangerous Mind was a great first film, Clooney's follow up, Good Night and Good Luck, is a true work of art, and is deserving of every accolade. It's political in the best sense of the word - not pretentious or preachy- examining the war of words between the bullying Sen. Joe McCarthy and Edward R. Murrow. In an age where television news reporters have become noteworthy for the kinds of threatening and deceitful tactics employed by McCarthy in his Communist witch hunt, this film has special significance. In an era when politicians are engaging in a similar witch hunt in the name of National Security, this film challenges all people to examine critically such methods.
For all it's style and intelligence, the film really hangs on two key castings: David Strathairn as Edward R. Murrow and Joe McCarthy. Clooney's decision to use actual footage of McCarthy is inspired, giving the audience some sense of this man's presence and style. Like Murrow and his team's decision to use footage of McCarthy in their initial piece, Clooney lets the junior Senator from Wisconsin, with all his venom and hatred, speak for himself. Strathairn has a long and impressive body of work behind him, but this turn as Murrow might be his finest work.
2 comments:
ok, I'm kind of ashamed to be the guy who puts down a well-done historical movie just because it didn't entertain me enough, but I found that movie drop dead boring. Give me another chance to watch it though. I think on the night in question I just needed to be entertained a little more. I would probably normally find the subject material fascinating.
That movie was a good watch. Murrow's speeches were fantastic - totally gripping - and the use of historical McCarthy footage was brilliant. I've never been so engrossed by a talking-heads movie and it comes off as a journalistic call-to-arms in the era of Fox News and the Bush administration (I'm thankful for the existence of the CBC - Fifth Estate? yes please!).
I think the movie, as successful as it is as a political drama, does lack a human heart. Maybe it was wise to leave Murrow as an enigma beyond the press room and not speculate about him personally. But its attempts to create such a heart with the Robert Downey Jr. character and his secret-marriage sidestory don't really work. They add nothing to the direction of the plot and I couldn't figure out why we should care about their under-developed plight.
nice Decemberists post title, too.
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