Movie of the Week

 

Good Night, and Good Luck, directed by George Clooney. 2005

This will be a quickie (much like the film, which only runs 93 minutes).

For a change, the Dabbler will be recommending a movie currently in theaters, rather than the classics of weeks past. It's merely a coincidence that this particular film is set during the same Cold War decade in which both previous selections were made. Good Night, and Good Luck is simply a worthy movie deserving of your ten bucks.

Much more assured than Clooney's directorial debut, the flawed and overly ambitious Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, GN+GL is a controlled, modest but enjoyable, well-crafted piece of filmmaking. Especially noteworthy is the diegetic use of archival footage -- of the McCarthy hearings and CBS News clips -- which flows seamlessly into the meticulously production-designed narrative. Acting is understated but almost flawless from the entire cast. Though it easily could have, the movie never preaches or becomes overly didactic. Go see it!