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• MOVIE REVIEW (Drama) •

Good Night, and Good Luck. David Strathairn, Robert Downey Jr, George Clooney The Official Site Soundtrack at Amazon.com

Label: George Clooney & Grant Heslov Released: 10/7/2005

Imagine a time when people dressed up to go out, men wore suits and hats and women matched their gloves to their handbags. Smoking had not yet been vilified, Jane Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe were the bombshells of the era and three martini lunches were on the menu... Ah, the fifties! In a decade of lounge lizards and post-war prosperity, there was also an increasing paranoia stemming from the ever-cooling relations with the Soviet Union. The threat of communist infiltration was stoked to fever pitch by notorious Wisconsin Junior Senator Joseph McCarthy and his sweeping anti-communist witch hunt. Many lives were ruined, people ostracized and marked, mutually accused, fingers were pointed...and all despite the absence of proof or specific criminal charges. Most were accused but were not aware of the charges against them.

In the light of all of this chaos, respected newsman Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) and comrade-in- arms Fred Friendly (George Clooney) begin a desperate news battle, inviting the public to question these actions and such blatant disregard for civil liberties. A reluctant crusader, Murrow directly challenges the validity of McCarthy's claims and in turn endangers himself and his entire news staff at CBS studios. With a disgruntled corporate management and unhappy advertisers breathing down his neck, and open threats from government and military officials sympathetic to McCarthy, Murrow continues to fight his battle for truth and integrity in the public arena.

Riveting in its content, the audience stays on its toes along with all at CBS. Ingeniously inter-cut with narrative and actual footage of McCarthy proceedings, as well as wonderful jazz interludes provided by Rosemary Clooney's very own band, this highly stylized film delivers. David Strathairn does brilliant justice to the late Murrow, and George Clooney's modest portrayal of the pale and doughy producer Fred Friendly make his directorial debut quite all the more selfless and successful. Definitely see this one! This is a part of history everyone should know about.

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