Good Night, And Good Luck. DVD Review:

Most films that cover a time period from the past go through great lengths to recreate events and surroundings exactly as they were. These period films rely on showing a convincing recreation of exact places and times, but although Good Night, and Good Luck is certainly a period piece, the focus is slightly different. Good Night seems more interested in recreating what it would have been like had you been alive and watching the events on television, rather than seeing them live. The film is shot in black and white, but it is more than that. Commercials are mixed in with the goings on of the broadcast, and we are given a break from the seriousness of the situation. We are transported into a past time and place, but we are also able to witness it as so many people witnessed it as it happened.

Good Night, and Good Luck brings us into the CBS newsroom in 1953. The television has made it’s way into the homes of millions of Americans and Edward R. Murrow is “the face of television” as a CBS newscaster. Murrow’s program does a piece on Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s trials convicting individuals of being in the communist party with proof that is not made public. This piece brings a world of trouble on Murrow and his friend and producer, Fred Friendly (Clooney). Soon they are attacked directly by Sen. McCarthy and they have to choose whether or not they can afford to stand up to him.

The bustling business of the newsroom is the real star of this film, just as it was in All the President’s Men. Nearly the entire film takes place in the CBS newsroom or the surrounding areas. Any events happening outside of these character’s world is seen on television, just as they are seeing it. There are even moments when Murrow is watching what is happening in the trials as he records his own show of forced celebrity interviews. What separates Good Night, and Good Luck from being just good is the powerful message that Murrow had about television. His views would change the world, and can still be as true today as it was then. This message makes a perfect bookend to the events in the newsroom, and it makes Good Night a perfect little film.

The DVD uses the poster for the cover, which is all black and white except for a red American flag in the background. The DVD comes out just after the free publicity of the Academy Awards, but unfortunately the awards weren’t kind to Good Night, and Good Luck. I believe that this film was meant to be watched on the television. It makes the film much more impacting and important, but it also gives the audience a chance to see the events on television, as they are seen in the film.

The special features are minimal, as are the menus, but nothing is wasted. The menus have just still shots and some music, but it fits with the feel of the film. There is a commentary track which is more interesting when you know when it was recorded. Apparently the commentary was recorded pre-award season, and Clooney had no idea how well it would be received. He spends most of the commentary cracking jokes about himself with producer Grant Heslov. There is also the Good Night, and Good Luck, a nice little featurette about the film and the inspiration behind it.



Ryan Izay