United States, 2005Cast: David Straithairn, Robert Downey Jr., Patricia Clarkson, Ray Wise, Frank Langella, Jeff Daniels, George Clooney
Director: George Clooney
My Rating: **** / ****
David Straithairn’s act really took my breath away. Particulary when he says his closing statement, “Good Night, and Good Luck”. The expression of his face, the way his eyes wanders like he doesn’t really wants to end and said something more, the tone of his voice, and the way George Clooney captured the scene. All of them captivating me, led me to a state of pure intense that – again – literally took my breath away.
“Good Night, and Good Luck” is one of the five best drama of 2005 according to Golden Globe awards. For me, it’s one of the five best film of 2005 that I’d already seen. Not without a reason. This film is a second film in a relatively short-interval that I watched and told about the live of newsies and delivered in a black/white picture. The difference was of course the quality of the picture – physically. “His Girl Friday” shot in 1940 where color in film was yet implemented and “Good Night, and Good Luck” was intended to shot in a grayscale tone.
In a sense – wait, not just in a sense, but it just IS – “Good Night, and Good Luck” is a docu-drama (part documentary, part drama, and oh, throws a little bit of thriller in it, because that’s the way I see it) about public war between Edward R. Murrow, a journalist from CBS with Senator McCarthy about the senator’s policy against those people who in his opinion solely (that is, without further physical or publicly released proof) un-American. Right. He’s an anti-Communist senator. And Murrow attacks his policy which is just appropriate through his show “See it Now” which he co-produced with Fred Friendly (Clooney). But if you think about it, you could easily put the situation into modern days where we’d change the “anti-Communist” to “anti-Terrorist”. But that of course, is beyond the scope of this review.
This movie is easily a thrill-ride. The reporters involved in “See it Now” show were literally put their heads on a chop-block when they’re started to attack Senator McCarthy policy. It could easily be observed from the office’s shot, from the meetings prior the show, from executive decisions, and ultimately, I held my breath when all the crew, right after Murrow said his closing statement, waiting for the phone to ring. Now, that’s what I call thriller. And the climax was rewarding.
But of course, the star of the show, the spotlight of it all, was David Straithairn who played Edward R. Murrow. I can’t quite remember it rightly, but the last time some actor put me in awe by his act is when I saw Daniel Day Lewis in “Gangs of New York” back in 2001. That’s leave me wondering how was Phillip Seymour Hoffman does act in Capote as he is the winner of the last Golden Globe Award for Best Leading Actor in Drama whereas David Straithairn was only become a nominee. But his performance alone, is enough to keep me entertained, keep me hooked up to the story line, sometimes keep my breath away (which actually a good thing, in this case), and leave me in awe after this thrill-ride approaches its end. The actors selection for this film is nowhere near good. Is wayyyy above good. Even though the only “star” on this film was George Clooney who comfortably put himself on the bench, the actors chosen in this film were chosen based not by their stardoms but by their roles and that’s what made this film easily one of the very best of 2005. And if you want to know what’s my opinion of good film and good acting, consequently on what base my reviews are upon, you ought to watch this movie, and tell me what you think. “Good Night, and Good Luck”.