Fridae

Good Night and Good Luck is the last Oscar nominee for
Best Picture this year to be shown in Singapore. Its arrival is
unfashionably late, considering that Oscar fever has long died and
the DVDs have been selling in HMV for months.

Still, for the few who have not seen it, the film should not disappoint.
It is solidly-crafted drama that recreates the real-life showdown
between a bold TV newsman and a hysterical right-wing politician
in 1954. But more pertinently, the film has been read as an urgent
critique of the present American media that has been seen as too
compliant and tolerant towards George W Bush's presidential follies.

Good Night and Good Luck revolves around the pioneering
TV newsman Edward R Murrow (David Straitharn) who helped create
the groundbreaking news program in the 1950s called Hear It
Now, which sought to report the truth and nothing but the truth
to American viewers.

In 1954, Senator Joseph McCarthy was waging a nasty war against
anyone he suspected of being a Communist. Although the senator rarely
backed up his claims with facts, few dared to go against him for
fear of being labeled a Communist too. That is, until Edward R Murrow
took him on. The showdown between the two resulted in what's been
called the finest hours of American TV history.

Good Night and Good Luck (the title is taken from Murrow's
regular parting shot on the program) garnered six Oscar nominations
including Best Picture but lost in all categories. But that should
not detract from the film's many achievements, in particular David
Straitharn's solid performance as Murrow and George Clooney's surprisingly
skilled direction. A must-see for political junkies.