I don’t know exactly what I expected from this movie, but it turns out to be far more restrained and level-headed than I’d imagined. At the same time, that’s no surprise. At only 90 minutes, George Clooney is to be praised for telling this story with the utmost simplicity. It’s more a reconstruction than a movie. I think I expected (read, wanted) something more Network-ish, a little more electrifying and brash.

I really didn’t know the whole Joseph McCarthy story aside from the basic witch-hunt idea from studying Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”, etc. To me there doesn’t seem to be enough opposition to Edward R. Murrow and his team when they choose to “go at him”. Once challenged, McCarthy rapidly buries himself, shown in archive footage and doing the film makers’ job for them. The message of this movie, if there is one, seems to be to speak the truth without fear and things will work out. Maybe that’s the most important thing anyone can say these days.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 15th, 2006 at 7:30 pm in 4 hearts, Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.