Good Night, and Good Luck

Abstract

In Good Night, and Good Luck, director George Clooney and screenwriter Grant Heslov employ the 1954 confrontation between cbs newsman Edward R. Murrow (played in stoic fashion by veteran character actor David Strathairn) and Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy to comment on contemporary politics in the age of terror. The liberal Clooney contrasts the timidity of a corporate media that failed to challenge the George W. Bush administration's assumptions regarding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq with the courage Murrow and his producer Fred Friendly (George Clooney) displayed. The film evokes the mood of the 1950s through ubiquitous swirling cigarette smoke, claustrophobic newsrooms (there are no exterior scenes in the film), stark black-and-white cinematography, which allows the filmmakers to show historical footage of McCarthy, and a classic jazz soundtrack featuring Dianne Reeves as a performer in the style of Billie Holiday or Ella Fitzgerald. The ambiguity and paradox of the era are also apparent in the film's conclusion. Murrow plays a key role in bringing McCarthy down, yet the reporter's role at the network is reduced by board chair William Paley (Frank Langella), who is concerned about the impact of political controversy on corporate sponsorship. This astute film eschews the simplicity of the liberal hero slaying the reactionary dragon.