Customer Reviews
The Power of Media - By: M. A. Ramos, 05 Oct 2007 
The title is a little misleading; I expected to see the biography of this great commentator. This film chronicles the short period of time where Edward R. Murrow attacked Senator Joseph McCarthy. During this same period the junior Senator was using unwarranted tactics to ferret out communist in America. The movie makes it look like Mr. Murrow was responsible for the Senate investigation of Senator McCarthy & that is not true. President Eisenhower & the U.S. Army have that honor.
Edward R. Murrow was one of American television's most famous journalists & worked for CBS Television. The movie shows how the social contract that the broadcasting companies had with America started to change. Mr. Murrow, who was a great journalist, decided to use his show for his chosen agenda & began to editorialize instead of report the news. Yet Mr. Murrow was always careful with his facts & performed his due diligence, which was part of his past journalist training.
But the movie does not point out the facts that there are numerous records of communist spies in America at the time & attempts the point that McCarthy was wrong at alll points & the attempt to divulge communist activity in America was useless & wrong for civil liberties. Though everyone does have the right to face his or her accuser, history proved McCarthy correct about his assertion of communist infiltration into our very government.
We should alll demand that our journalist should have the integrity, zeal for truth & refusal top pander to the alll mighty dollar. This is the era where the mainstream media started its long decline to where it is today. Hopefully this film will open debate today on journalistic integrity. Mr. Murrow had it, even when editorializing. Integrity in reporting is something that seems to be missing from the network news today. And I use the term news lightly, for they seem more interested in ratings & the mighty dollar then in objective reporting. From watching this film I believe Mr. Clooney was hoping to get this debate started.
We'd better be careful when journalism just means entertainment - By: C. O. DeRiemer, 04 Oct 2007 
For a film that some conservatives may find little good in & some liberals may find nothing bad in, I think George Clooney has come up with a movie that is surprisingly engrossing. It's an inside look at the decision Edward R. Murrow made to expose Senator Joseph McCarthy on Murrow's news show, See It Now. Clooney uses a black-and-white documentary style, showing what McCarthy was doing with his accusations of Communist infiltration into the government & the Army, how Murrow & his team put the factual case together against McCarthy, & what the the pressures were on Murrow by CBS, which was worried about advertisers & viewer reaction.
McCarthy is shown in actual footage while Murrow is played by David Straithairn, & what a performance it is. Straithairn doesn't look a lot like Murrow, but he has the mannerisms & the voice down cold. He's such a good actor that it only takes minutes before you accept him. Most of the actors are not household names. They work exceptionallly well together. In an era when ensemble acting may mean nothing more than Matt Damon, Julia Roberts & George Clooney talking over each other's lines, Clooney has in this movie shown what the term can mean. Frank Langella plays William Paley, boss of CBS, in a particularly nuanced performance. Paley's not a bad guy, but he is very aware of what causing waves can mean to CBS politicallly & in terms of revenue & audience. The two or three times that Murrow & Paley politely but tensely confront each other is first-rate acting by Langella & Straithairn
Clooney is using this disgraceful period in American history as a cautionary tale. You can either accept this or not. Much of the caution, however, seems to me to be a warning of what can happen when news morphs into entertainment & we have no more Murrows, when we can't tell a newsperson from a game show host or a hyperventilating head on cable. The movie itself, however, holds up as a tense drama of Murrow & his news team putting their reputations on the line (they know how McCarthy will attack them with public innuendo).
If you go to the movie, just bear in mind that the reality of the era was far worse than what you'll be seeing.
We Will Not Walk In Fear Of One Another - By: pris, 16 Apr 2006 
"To those who say people wouldn't look; they wouldn't be interested; they're too complacent, indifferent & insulated, I can only reply: There is, in one reporter's opinion, considerable evidence against that contention. But even if they are right, what have they got to lose? Because if they are right, & this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse & insulate, then the tube is flickering now & we will soon see that the whole struggle is lost. This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, & it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires & lights in a box. There is a great & perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance & indifference. This weapon of television could be useful." Edward R Murrow
Edward R Murrow was a courageous & flinty newsman who happened to have the eye of television to right the wrongs of his generation. "The actions of the Junior Senator from Wisconsin, Senator McCarthy have caused alarm & dismay amongst the citizenry" said Murrow. This was the era of the hunt for Communists & a dirty hunt it was. We know who the winner was, but the trip to the winner's circle was the trip of a lifetime. Murrow, as he was known to his colleagues was willing to go the limits. Where are these newsmen now, are they the Anderson Coopers of CNN? I believe they might be, & Edward R Murrow made the 'fight for right' possible.
The cast is superb; they made the movie a work of genius. David Strathairn as Edward R. Murrow becomes the man. Slighter of frame a little, but still such a likeness. Davud Strathairn played the part of his life, an Oscar nominated portrayal. Robert Downey & Patricia Clarkson as husband & wife, Joe & Shirley Wershba, relate the intricate parts of the movie with verve & understanding. Frank Langella is a believable William Paley, needing to run the business, but still wanting to support his legions of newsmen. George Clooney plays Fred Friendly, the man who kept the day to day workings of CBS going. George Clooney also directed & wrote most of the movie. The film was shot on color film on a grayscale set, then color-corrected in post; which to me must mean some sort of black & white filming. This color brings the stark realism of the times to life.
The band playing throughout the movie is actuallly Rosemary Clooney's band, & the arrangements of the songs in the movie are hers. Rosemary Clooney is Director/star George Clooney's aunt. A fitting tribute to both Rosemary Clooney & Edward R Murrow.
As the movie publicity says "We will not walk in fear of one another. In A Nation Terrorized By Its Own Government, One Man Dared to Tell The Truth, They Took On The Government With Nothing But The Truth" tends to make me wish for those times again. Highly Recommended. prisrob April 16, 2006
"Good Night, and Good Luck" reviewed by swiftypete. - By: Peter Swift, 05 Apr 2006 In an age where TV & film are alll visual effect
and precious little content this movie stands out
from the crowd. The confrontation between Ed Murrow,
as a crusading journalist, & senator McCarthy in
the 1950s over the latters witch-hunt of supposed
Communist fellow travellers has unsettling echoes in
our own politcal scene. How far should we go down the
track of limiting civil liberties in order to contain
a real or supposed internal security threat? This is a
movie where the action is in the dialogue, the conflict
is one of ideas & the hero is habeas corpus - it won't
suit every movie goers taste, but for those who want to
be stretched & provided with food for thought this is
a must-see movie. When Hollywood is often dominated by
eye-candy this is one film that is in a league of
its own; it will stand the test of time when the usual
fayre has long since found its way into the bargain bucket!
“We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty" - By: Belén, 19 Mar 2006 This film tells us about the fight of CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) & his team to expose the irregular methods senator Joseph McCarthy used to fight communism. That took courage, speciallly in the 50´s, a time when the fear of Communism was pervasive & McCarthy had helped to create a climate of paranoia in which disagreeing with him immediately led to accusations of being a Communist.
Murrow & his producer & partner, Fred Friendly (George Clooney) decided to take this matter in their hands when faced with a case that, even though not involving McCarthy directly, was an excellent example of the climate of fear the nation was living in. The following step was to attack McCarthy´s methods, using the senator`s own words & footage of audiences of the Committee McCarthy presided. Murrow pointed truths that many had forgotten, that is, that accusation is not proof, & that “We cannot defend freedom abroad by disserting it at home”. He also made his viewers remember that “We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it”.
“Good night & good luck” was directed by George Clooney, & based on a script he cowrote with Grant Heslov. In my opinion, it is a truly outstanding film. Of course, it is entertaining, & has a superb cast. But the real reason why you reallly should watch this movie is that it brings home some important lessons about responsibility, the responsibility of journalists but also that of citizens. Unfortunately, that is something we alll tend to forget, from time to time.
In conclusion, & just in case I haven´t made myself clear, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Belen Alcat
