Good Night, and Good Luck

George Clooney honors his news anchor father with this well-made tribute to Edward R. Murrow, superbly embodied by David Strathairn. With evident documentary intent, he lets Senator Joseph McCarthy play himself in old newsreels of his communist witch hunt days. The old tv footage blends seamlessly with the deep, rich black & white cinematography, which calls up the Fifties without ever stepping out of doors -- from smoke-filled studios where a crew of bespectacled go-getters use primitive technology to seat-of-the-pants the tv news, to the smoke-filled bar where they swirl bourbon in the glass and strategize the stuggle of a free press in a troubled time. A time, the estimable Mr. Clooney does not even need to imply, that bears some similarity to our own. He also evokes the spirit of the Fifties by effective use of a female blues singer as a sort of Greek chorus. The story is a bit thinly painted, though the canvas is large and looming -- it begins and ends with a lecture, with a civics lesson in between -- but this is honest work of high degree. As drama it lacks some elemental pull, but as dramatized documentary it is a mesmerizing swirl of smoke, infinitely preferable to anything Michael Moore might concoct. George Clooney, to me, is one American hero commenting on another, who inspired him in speaking truth to power. And David Strathairn is an absolute must for a Best Actor nomination, way beyond mimicry of Murrow to a deep channeling. It’s not a great film, but has many elements of greatness. (2005, Images, n.) *7+* (MC-80, RT-94.)