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Good Night and Good Luck [DVD] [2005]
enlarge	Director: George Clooney Actors: David Strathairn, Jeff Daniels, Tate Donovan, Tom McCarthy, Robert Downey Jr. Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. UK Ltd Category: DVD List Price: ~~£19.99~~ Buy New: £3.46 as of 20/11/2009 23:39 GMT details You Save: £16.53 (83%) New (20) Used (6) from £3.25 Seller: orbitingbooks Rating: 38 reviews Sales Rank: 4133 Format: Black White, PAL Languages: English (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired), English (Original Language) Rating: Parental Guidance Region: 2 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 89 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5060052410740 ASIN: B000EF7ZRW Theatrical Release Date: 2005 Release Date: September 10, 2007 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Editorial Reviews: Amazon.co.uk Review Considering IGood Night and Good Luck/I is only the second time he's stepped behind the camera, George Clooney has already marked his card as a director of real talent to watch. He also acts in this particular film, but generously leaves centre stage to the superb David Strathairn.PSet in the 1950s and based on true events, Strathairn plays news reporter Edward R. Murrow, who finds himself increasingly uncomfortable with the tactics used by Junior Senator Joseph McCarthy (of whom Clooney chooses to use real archive footage rather than getting an actor to play his role). The film finds McCarthy in the midst of his infamous crusade against communism, and Strathairn and Clooney lead the CBS news team who choose to report the other side of the story. Naturally, this ruffles more than a few feathers, and the film follows the investigation as it goes about stirring up a proverbial hornet's nest.PThe reason it works so well is its beautiful simplicity. Clooney shoots his film in black and white, with no flashy effects, no distractions, just a wise and worthwhile focus on telling a very good story in a very good way. Drawing quality performances not just from Strathairn but also from a strong supporting cast (including Jeff Daniels, Robert Downey Jr and Patricia Clarkson), this is compelling, important movie making that leaves you thirsting for whatever Clooney elects to direct next. And if you're in the mood to check out another piece of highly-charged movie making, albeit with Clooney in front of the camera this time, then ISyriana/I makes an ideal companion piece.--ISimon Brew /I

Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 38 1 2 3 4 5 6 ...8 Next » Edward R. Murrow goes after Senator Joseph McCarthy March 16, 2006 Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) 44 out of 49 found this review helpful Part of me is surprised that "Good Night, and Good Luck" was a theatrical film, because it struck me as being the sort of thing I would expect to see on HBO. The 2005 Oscar nominated film only runs 93 minutes and most of the scenes take place in the intimacy of a television studio, so it would seem much better suited for the tube rather than the screen (my understanding is that George Clooney originally conceived of it as a live broadcast special on CBS). Consequently I think it is probably more effective seeing it on DVD than in the movie theater. pThis is not a bio-pic, but a morality play. So do not expect any scrawl at the end explaining what happened to Murrow, McCarthy and the rest of the characters (the film implicitly says "shame on you" if you do not know already). It is about the events leading up to and the aftermath of the March 9, 1954 broadcast of a "See It Now" special entitled "A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy," put together by Murrow (David Strathairn) and producer Fred Friendly (Clooney). Three weeks later McCarthy was given an opportunity to refute the charges on the show, but instead resorted to his standard practice of denouncing anybody who dared to attack him, essentially completing the job that Murrow had begun. However, the victory Murrow and Friendly won did not come without a cost, as see in the tragic story of Don Hollenbeck (Ray Wise) and the decisions CBS chairman William S. Paley (Frank Langella) made regarding the future of Murrow on television based on economic considerations.p"Good Night, and Good Lucky" makes a series of strategic stories to tell the story. First, because all of the appearances of Murrow and McCarthy on television were in black white, the entire film ends up being done that way. There are several points where Clooney plays wih cuts and changing the rack focus to shift from seeing Murrow directly and on television, and that works better when everything is in black white. Second, instead of an actor playing Senator McCarthy, Clooney uses actual footage. After all, that was what Murrow did on his broadcast, letting McCarthy speak for himself. But this also has an advantage because anyone playing the junior Senator from Wisconsin trying to do for him what Strathairn is doing for Murrow is going to look like a clown. pThird, obviously McCarthy is saying what McCarthy really said, but as when Murrow is on camera the script sticks to what he really said as well. Some of the key things Murrow said off camera are considered to be authentic as well, and most viewers will be able to appreciate that simply because they will have a real sense of Murrow#x27;s use of language and the rhythm of his speech. There are liberties taken with chronology, collapsing the time frame as to when things happened without changing the order (as near as I can tell), but avoiding subtitles constantly telling us the date is fine with me. Also, Clooney softens the direct and rather documentary-like approach by bridging the major acts of the film with songs sung in the studio next door by jazz singer Dianne Reeves. The songs do not offer any sort of musical counterpoint to the narrative, but beyond being a homage to Clooney#x27;s aunt they also give a sense of the time and give the director an opportunity to be artistic and justify his Oscar nomination in that category.pOf course, the release of this film at this time makes it political, because we are again living in a time when there are elements of the government justifying their actions in the name of national security. The film explicitly condemns McCarthy, but then it implicitly attacks not only Bush, but Reagan and Nixon (It is not that the film is inherently anti-Republican, but rather than only Republicans get to cloak their actions in the blanket of national security; Democrats on soft on things like defense). Getting the communists is not that different from getting the terrorists or considering all dissent to be by definition un-American. Once again, the more things change the more they remain the same. pHowever, ultimately the main indictment of "Good Night, and Good Luck" is not of politicians, who we know full well will lie to us in the name of self-interest and maintaining power. Rather the harshest critique is for the television news of today, where the vast majority of reporters are unwilling to stand up to power and, even more damningly, unwilling to tell the truth. The framing device for the film is Murrow#x27;s keynote address to the 1958 convention of the Radio-Television News Directors Association, and his withering critique of the medium that he used so well. If Murrow were alive today and not constantly spinning in his grave, I have no doubt that he would be saving his most withering comments for his fellow journalists, not that any of them today are really in his class. pHere is a really scary thought. Look at the talking heads on television today who are most famous and ask yourself: do they remind you more of Edward R. Murrow or of Senator Joseph McCarthy? Great Film August 8, 2007 gozeat (Northampton) 12 out of 13 found this review helpful This is simply a great film. Brilliantly acted, well directed, fantastic script. It conveys the paranoia and madness of the McCarthy era in the States brilliantly, without you actually having to know too much of what went on. As it is based on true facts it shows how brave Murrow was in taking a stand against McCarthyism. It also is a great lesson to today's sensation seeking journalists on what it takes to stand up for what you believe in and yet still remain impartial and let the facts do the work for you. I warmly recommend this film to everyone. A wish .... December 1, 2006 Ms. Arina Baltazar (UK) 9 out of 10 found this review helpful In this era of CNN, SkyNews and corporate controlled media you wish that Murrow would make a return from the grave and show them and us what journalism is meant to be - courageous, full of guts and controversial! We have become isolated,politically correct and happy with what we are force fed ! Fantastic movie, great performances, perfect wording and script, smoky, black and white atmosphere, no frills and gimmicks, all of which leave the message do all the talking... It will leave you wanting more ... Brilliantly Pro-American because Critical ! February 27, 2006 Jacques COULARDEAU (OLLIERGUES France) 18 out of 22 found this review helpful A brilliant American film for the 21st century. One more film on McCarthy, you might say. Yes indeed. But this one is different. Different because it is in black and white and it is a real smoking factory : politically correctness is forbidden. Different because it is not about the cinema but essentially about television, CBS. The real fourth power of the media : the power of journalism reinforced by the power of images. This television produces news programs that become the 21st century gospels. This power is absolutely enormous. And yet it is not CBS that brings McCarthy down, nor Murrow. It is McCarthy himself who brings himself down when he decides to react to Murrow on television and rebut him. In other words he falls in the trap laid in front of him and is unable to cope with this medium : he appears like what he is, a bigot, and he attacks someone who is beyond doubt in the wide public, a gospel writer as I have already said. Then McCarthy is doomed. This film hence shows something most people ignore on the old continent as well as on the new continent. The USA, like any human society, contains both good and evil because good cannot exist without evil and vice versa. But the USA, like any human society founded on the belief that individuals have rights and are fundamentally free as individuals and as citizens, will contain evil by its own efforts because good is necessarily stronger, even if at times it takes a few years to get around an obstacle and get into a dominant position. It is true some damage may have been caused during the period when evil had the upper hand, but good will push that evil down and aside sooner or later. Unluckily in such a society evil will find its way back up one day and will have to be pushed down again. But that is democracy and to believe that good, provided we all agree on what good is, can triumph once and for all is just as narrow-minded as the belief that communism had triumphed in 1917 once and for all. History has proved how wrong such a wiew was.pDr Jacques COULARDEAU, Universit#233; Paris Dauphine, Universit#233; Paris I Panth#233;on Sorbonne The Clash of Titans June 11, 2006 MICHAEL ACUNA (Southern California United States) 3 out of 3 found this review helpful One of the great things about George Clooney's "Good Night and Good Luck" is that you need not know anything about Senator Joe McCarthy or Edward R. Murrow to appreciate the importance and drama of their 50 year old conflict played out on TV in the every home, every night here in the US and around the world a half century ago. br /Gloriously shot in evocative black and white and expertly directed by George Clooney with a sensitive eye towards the 1950's milieu of this story: stock footage of McCarthy is seamlessly and cleverly blended with new, "GNAGL" is made as contemporary and palpably current as this morning's newspaper. br /David Strathairn plays Murrow as a conflicted man: inexorably drawn to the pursuit of truth and the uncovering of those that would attempt to obscure it yet always aware that his position as television's conscience requires of him a certain amount of decorum. His portrayal is marked by both a frantic restraint and a quiet passion that speaks to the very best in all of us. br /"Good Night and Good Luck" is a daring, sophisticated movie that holds its audience in the highest regard: never once dumbing down its cogent story in order to win us over. It is a film that demands a lot of us, but our payback is in the invaluable and irrevocable currency of understanding and tolerance. br / Showing reviews 1-5 of 38 1 2 3 4 5 6 ...8 Next »

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