Good Night, and Good Luck: 8 (of 10)

 

I went back and forth about the rating for this one.  Taking its name from the trademark closing Edward R Murrow used on his news show, we are shown what appears to be a fairly factual account of how his willingness to stand and point out wrong helped to end the McCarthy era of fear.  Shot in a rich black and white and using a large amount of actual news footage from the hearings, we are given a story which is quite appropriate to the day.  The movie, however, falls short of really telling us what Edward is all about.  Like watching him on TV, we only see a facade and don't get a real look into his character.  The only characters we get to see outside work are part of a sidestory which seems random and pasted into the script.

 

That being said, the movie is still a great watch.  I was waffling between a 7 and an 8 for it and I guess the Oscar nomination probably swayed me.