George Clooney was Oscar-nominated as both director and co-writer of Good Night, And Good Luck "a clever, quietly spoken little movie" centring on 50s newscaster Edward Murrow (played by the Oscar-nominated David Straithairn). The story of his head-to-head with right wing hardliner Senator Joseph McCarthy struck a chord in an age when TV news networks, especially in the US, are being increasingly criticised for toeing the government line.
Into That Good Night
Only the audio commentary with Clooney and co-writer Grant Heslov gives a decent insight into the day-to-day business of making the film. Clooney reveals that he was suffering with a back injury during the shoot, which was part of the reason he decided to have two cameras rolling at once, thus halving the working day to nine hours. This may sound a little glib, but he adds that the two-camera technique also helped to effect a "fly-on-the-wall" look and made editing a lot easier.
On the matter of casting Straithairn, Clooney prefaces the usual compliments by saying he was "the cheapest actor" they could afford and, moreover, "If I had played Murrow it would have cost considerably more." It's this dry sense of humour that really lifts the commentary above what you might expect. In other words, it's definitely not too earnest or too preachy.
Heslov plays Clooney's straight man (they've been friends for years) and they obviously shared the same strong vision for the film. Going by his comments, Heslov spent a lot of time on the set and even went along on trips to scout the locations. He also explains that it was their decision to represent McCarthy in original archive footage that dictated the black-and-white aesthetic.
Breaking News
Cameras visit the soundstage for a 15 minute featurette that talks to the surviving members of the CBS news team fronted by Murrow, as well as their families and cast and crew. Annoyingly there are no name captions to indicate who's who, but if you pay attention, everything eventually becomes clear. Murrow's son shares his memories of the Cold War era when he says "every kid in New York wore dog-tags" just in case there was a nuclear attack and bodies needed to be identified.
Reflecting on this climate of fear leads into a discussion about the role of television, which everyone agrees has swayed too far towards "distracting" people from the real issues. The feeling is that news is more and more geared towards entertaining people instead of informing them. Clooney asserts, however, that "It is our patriotic duty to question authority." Straithairn echoes this and commends the director for his "force of will" in the getting the film made. This featurette certainly helps to underline its central themes, but sadly we don't get to see much of Clooney wielding his megaphone.
A photo gallery gives just a teasing glimpse backstage, but while lacking in direct behind-the-scenes access, this batch of extras still boasts enough practical and political insights to make you sit up and listen.
EXTRA FEATURES
