Rent Good Night and Good Luck (2005)
3.7 of 5 from 351 ratings
1h 30min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Good Night, And Good Luck takes place during the early days of US broadcast. It chronicles the real-life conflict between television news pioneer Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) and Senator Joseph McCarthy. With a desire to report the facts and enlighten the public, the ground-breaking Murrow, and his dedicated staff, headed by his producers Fred Friendly and Joe Wershba (George Clooney & Robert Downey Jr.) defy corporate and sponsorship pressures to examine the lies and scaremongering tactics perpetrated by McCarthy during his communist 'witch-hunts'. In this climate of fear and reprisal, the CBS crew carries on regardless and their tenaciousness eventually pays off when McCarthy is brought before the US Senate. Their legacy has remained intact and even reverberates today as the standard for high quality broadcast journalism. - Actors:
- David Strathairn, George Clooney, Patricia Clarkson, Jeff Daniels, Alex Borstein, Rose Abdoo, Dianne Reeves, Peter Martin, Christoph Luty, Jeff Hamilton, Matt Catingub, Tate Donovan, Reed Diamond, Matt Ross, Robert Downey Jr., Thomas McCarthy, Glenn Morshower, Don Creech, Grant Heslov, Robert John Burke
- Directors:
- George Clooney
- Writers:
- George Clooney, Grant Heslov
- Others:
- Robert Elswit, Stephen Mirrione, Art Direction: Jim Bissell; Set Decoration: Jan Pascale, Jim Bissell, Jan Pascale
- Studio:
- Lionsgate Films
- Genres:
- Drama
- Collections:
- 2006, A Brief History of Films About Television: Part 1, Award Winners, BAFTA Nominations Competition 2024, CinemaParadiso.co.uk Through Time, Lions on the Lido, A Brief History of Film..., The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to Steven Soderbergh, Top 10 Award Winners at the London Film Festival, Top Films
- Awards:
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 03/08/2009
- Run Time:
- 93 minutes
- Languages:
- English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Subtitles:
- English, English Hard of Hearing
- DVD Regions:
- Region 2
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.78:1 / 16:9
- Colour:
- B & W
- Bonus:
- Commentary by George Clooney and Grant Heslov
- Featurette
- Photo gallery
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Reviews (6) of Good Night and Good Luck
A highly intelligent piece of film making - Good Night and Good Luck review by CP Customer
First of all, feast your eyes on the black and white - think superb portrait, not grainy old films. The atmosphere of the period is beautifully portrayed and there isn't a poor performance in the film. Yes, it's still highly relevant and should, perhaps, be compulsory viewing for politicians on both sides of the Atlantic. If you aren't sure what the Mcarthey era was about, watch this - a gripping film on all levels.
4 out of 4 members found this review helpful.
Still important today - Good Night and Good Luck review by CP Customer
The movie tells the story of Ed Murrow of CBS during the mid-50's when McCarthy hunted "communists". It may not be completely historically correct, but in a time when we are in a "War against terrorism" and religious fundamentalists are trying to intimidate journalists, it is worth to repeat that journalists should be independent of money/politics/ideologies in order to investigate politicians who want to "protect" us from evil or minorities who think they should not be subject to criticism/investigative journalism. Seems to capture the time good with a chain-smoking Murrow!
2 out of 3 members found this review helpful.
Blend of old and new - Good Night and Good Luck review by JD
Footage from the era of fanatical commie paranoia serves to emphasise the reality of this worrying historical fact, that it is easy to fear being victimised and allow bullies to reign. Religions throughout time have had periods of this oppression of free thought, some much more intensely and for much longer. Even now in Western society there are fanatics keen to assert themselves in this way.
The acting of Clooney and Downey is excellent but some is mediocre. The black and white photography was well worked (lots of cigarette smoke curling through rays of back-light).
The reason that I don't rate higher is that it is not a particularly gripping plot nor did I feel the paranoia, which seemed to be the intention of the film. The moral is not new and has been done better.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.