George Clooney directs his classy tribute to the newsmen of a medium – and an era – gone by.

A solid entry in my Movies About People Talking festival – no sex, violence, action, or much else beyond down lighting and beautiful period outfits. Good Night, and Good Luck is a quiet pleasure to listen to, and to look at: from the cast of wonderful performers who can make dialogue the whole, satisfying meal, to Robert Elswit‘s gorgeous black & white cinematography, which balances meticulous lighting and composition with a kind of cinema verité-lite, where the camera follows the dialogue as it bounces from face to face.

David Strathairn‘s portrayal of Edward R. Murrow, the newscaster who stood up to Senator McCarthy’s communist witch-hunt in Cold War-era America, is as disarmingly spot-on as it is transcendentally dignified. And what a cast he’s surrounded by. Side-note: can everyone dress and groom this way, all the time, forevermore?

Further viewing:

Murrow’s response to McCarthy – one of the many moments Good Night… recreates faithfully and meticulously:

Director George Clooney on how newsmen like his father inspired him to make this film about one of “the two greatest moments in broadcast journalism”: