Good Night and Good Luck

Cafe Society
1

I’m not going to bother with spoilers, since the film’s basically a “slice of life” covering Edward R. Murrow’s decision to take on Sen. Joseph McCarthy. And really, if you don’t know much about Murrow going in, you won’t know much about him coming out, which is a shame.

Not to say that I think that it’s a bad film, but it’s a lightweight version of The Insider, IMHO. You don’t know what made Murrow so highly respected by the American public. I know, because I’ve heard reporters who knew Murrow talk about how the man was a paragon of journalistic ethics, but you don’t necessarily get that from the film.

There’s also not a lot of character development, and you’re left wondering who the hell some of the characters were supposed to have been. Jeff Daniels does a great job, but exactly what his character’s title at CBS was eluded me. You also don’t get much sense of the fear that McCarthy inspired in people at the time.

The film does raise issues about the media, advertisers, and whack job politicians, which is important in this era, but I couldn’t help but wish that Clooney (who co-wrote and directed the film) had picked up a bigger bat to swing with. It would have been nice if there had been a brief flashback showing Murrow giving one of his reports during the Blitz, or something similar, so those of us who grew up after his era, could get a better feel for the man. Even an epilogue explaining that McCarthy was marginalized for the rest of his term, then ousted in the next election and then he drank himself to death would have helped. A subtle touch, that I think would have been nice, given that the film is in black and white, would have been a slow fade to color as it became apparent that McCarthy was done for.

Still, David Strathairn has Murrow’s speaking cadence down, and while he can’t match the gravity of Murrow’s tone, you never once while watching him think, “This guy doesn’t sound anything like Murrow.” However, with the script that he’s given, Murrow comes off as a gargoyle, rather than an iconic news reporter, which is a shame.

2

Insightful points, Tuckerfan. Much of your critique helped me pinpoint why I wasn’t so enthralled with it – like many critcs seem to be.

I did find the flick somewhat entertaining, but I felt its biggest lack was that there just didn’t seem to be enough conflict. McCarthy’s people just had that one on-air rebuttal and the military involvement was really zip after the first meeting. That may have been accurate documentation, but it made for a somewhat wispy story.

3

Saw it last night and liked it a lot – though I see your points. I kind of liked the process of figuring out who was who at CBS – and the whole subplot about Robert Downey Jr. and Patricia Clarkson, that their big secret wasn’t political at all.

Plus, visually one of the most sumptuous films I’ve seen in years. Just gorgeous.

4

I still don’t know who they were. Yeah, I know their characters names, but I’ve no clue as to what they might have done after this, nor even really why they were significant to the story, unless you’re counting the subplot, which I had figured out pretty quickly, and it was an interesting touch (I’m assuming that they were real folks in that situation and it’s not something added), but that didn’t seem to be all that strong.