This movie wasn't what it was from the trailers. I was expecting some high powered silent thriller about the media fight between Edward R. Morrow and Wisconsin senator McCarthy, but instead, the picture became a simple statement from director George Clooney about the educative potential of television.

I've heard new stories about how this picture is a slap in the face of President Bush. I whole heartedly disagree. In fact, the material depicting the Morrow-McCarty fight didn't even get that political. The movie was about television, not politics.

"Good night and Good Luck" is about how Morrow, played by David Strathairn (Passion Fish) and his news team, along with co-hort Fred Friendly, played by Clooney (Ocean's 12), decided to expose McCarty's political rhetoric as double talk head on, knowing they could be labeled and exiled from the television industry as communists.

Eventually, McCarthy was investigated by the senate and forced to sit in the congressional back row, sort of speak, far from the newspapers and microphones, while CBS wittled Morrow and Friendly's show down to one-hour on Sunday afternoons and called after four weeks.

Strathairn was awesome with just the control he showed alone. Clooney was fine. I can never say anything great about him as an actor. Jeff Daniels also had some good things going on as the head of the CBS news department Sig Mikelson.

As a director Clooney had some interesting choices, and used focus as a means for transition, which you don't see much anymore; however, in some scenes, I think the cinematographer went a little overboard.

The black and white film stock was a good choice, as was the choice to have Morrow smoking in EVERY SINGLE SCENE he was in. Clooney went out of his way to show Morrow in the same manner he was scene on his TV news show. Some of the make-up wasn't very subtle, especially when it came to showing Morrow at the top and close of the movie.

The message of the movie is stated loud and clear in Morrow's final speech, giving at a dinner in his honor. The picture runs 90-minutes, doesn't get overzealous and plays almost as a documentary, especially using SO MUCH actual news reel and television broadcast footage.

Overall, I really enjoyed "Good Night and Good Luck," I don't think the mold is getting broken after it. It was a nice little story with a timely message, especially in our flash flood of realty TV shows and nothing but tabloid TV journalism. Morrow's final message rings louder today than in his own time.

Benn - Where's the Humanity?