Good Night and Good Luck - 7.5

Usually, I just go to movies to have fun, but every so often a movie will sneak up and change me in some way. Some times the changes are kind of big (I don't think I've had fast food since I watched Super Size Me,) and sometimes they're small and stupid (no Merlot since Sideways - like I can really tell the difference,) or they can be fairly random (oddly enough, City of God is the inspiration behind my failed picture of the day experiment.) It's a little too early to tell, but Good Night and Good Luck might just be one of those movies that makes a big change. I knew within the first few minutes of the movie, that I wanted to be better informed about the world.

Good Night and Good Luck tells the story of journalist Edward R. Murrow's 1960s confrontation with Senator Joseph McCarthy in a straight forward way. You wouldn't think McCarthy's specter would still be around 40 years later, but you can't help identifying aspects of today's political landscape while watching Good Night. The endless string of half-truths that flows from Washington is not so different from McCarthy's justification for his crusade, and more than a few people have been labeled 'unamerican' for questioning the current administration's policies (at least, we get a nice euphemism for traitor now.)

Director George Clooney keeps things fairly basic and mostly does a fine job. It isn't a flashy movie, and there are a few flaws in the movie-making: a sub-plot fizzles and it's a bit politically biased in some ways, hence the 7.5 instead of something a bit higher. It's a somewhat odd comparison, but Hotel Rwanda came to mind several times as I watched. Both are well-made movies based on true stories, and both have immediate and striking political relevance. Cloony can't quite match the emotional punch of Rwanda, but that doesn't prevent Good Night and Good Luck from succeeding Rwanda as the official "Most Important Movie of the Year."

So, now I'm going to be a good citizen. Since I watched the film on Thursday, I've read through two issues of The Economist and spent a dozen or so hours reading news online. Who knows how long my inspiration will last, but any movie that can change the way people act (and even more so, the way my stubborn ass acts, ) is doing something right. This, like Hotel Rwanda before it, is not only a good movie and well worth seeing; it's an important movie that you should see.