Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) Review

George Clooney is a busy guy. He acts, directs, produces, writes, hell, who knows what else. When he's not  appearing in another Ocean's movie to make some money he also supports smaller films or pursues his own, more personal projects. One of those films is Good Night, and Good Luck, his second feature film as a director after 2002's ingenious if flawed Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.


Just like his latest directorial outing The Ides of March (read my review here) Good Night, and Good Luck focuses on politics but from an entirely different perspective and concerning another subject matter. But once again, Clooney shows his love for movies with a message and it's not too far fetched to see Good Night, and Good Luck as a homage to the films of the New Hollywood movement of the 70s, especially Alan J. Pakula's All the President's Men.

The film takes place in the early 1950's and follows CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow and his stand against senator Joseph McCarthy's infamous communist witch hunt. The film paints a more idealistic picture of a time when people actually trusted the media and when reporters had the power to change something. In a way, this movie is a lecture in the best sense of the word, inspiring and enlightening without being preachy.

It's not just the very smart screenplay that keeps you involved but also the great perfomances. While the standouts are clearly (the very underrated) David Strathairn as Murrow and Frank Langella as CBS chief executive William Paley the rest of the ensemble shines as well. We see George Clooney in a smaller role as producer Fred Friendly, Robert Downey Jr. working his way towards Iron Man fame from his troubled drug past and Patricia Clarkson as his wife.

Some people might criticize the dialogue-heaviness and the often stagy feel of it but if you have some brains left in you, you can't deny how gripping and just plain good Good Night, and Good Luck is. I personally would have liked the film to be longer than just 93 minutes and filled with even more details but I think that is probably one of the best things you can say about a film. All in all, the movie is undeniably Clooney's best work as a director to date and should be recommended to anyone who likes to be educated and entertained at the same time.