I’ve found a new source for free movie
screenings: of all things, the Center for American
Progress. They show “progressive”
movies
about once a month. I had never been to
one, but when I saw that the George Clooney-directed Good Night, and Good Luck
was the next event, and that David Strathairn (who stars as Edward R.
Murrow)
would be there for a Q&A afterwards, I signed up.
I was cranky – a red-eye flight last week from San Diego has left me feeling fuzzy and disoriented for days – but I’m feeling better disposed toward Regal Cinemas. The screening was at the new Regal Gallery Place in downtown DC, and the first surprise was that I met an employee who was not surly or incompetent. Actually, she was the employee of the month, so maybe she was setting too high a standard for me to expect from the rest of the Regal staff. On top of that, the movie actually was in focus, and the film didn’t break or anything, and no fire alarms went off. The auditorium was spotless. I was amazed.
Unfortunately, the movie rather dispelled any sense of wonder I had. Very early on, it became apparent that this was an earnest but uninspired recounting of Murrow’s confrontation with Senator Joseph McCarthy, with parallels to today’s media and political situation underlined, italicized, and highlighted. Artistically it’s no better – it’s a color movie filmed in black and white (Clooney said that they decided to use the actual footage of McCarthy, and that’s why they had to make the movie black and white – to match. Uh, I sort of think people are smart enough to realize that TV was in black and white back then – Quiz Show made it work). There’s none of the shadows, the sharpness, of true black and white.
This might be the moment to step back and explain that the movie is about Murrow and his team of producers, who risked their jobs and much more by calling McCarthy on his inconsistencies and disregard for the Constitution. I’m sure the movie inflates Murrow’s role in stopping McCarthy considerably, but nevertheless, it was brave and certainly a bracing contrast to today’s TV journalists.
As much as it pains me to say this, Clooney (who in addition to directing co-wrote the script and plays producer Fred Friendly) just didn’t do a very good job this time, certainly nothing to compare with the hit-or-miss but inventive Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. I very much admire Clooney’s desire to make a serious, important movie and to try something out of the ordinary. I just wish he’d done it better. The movie’s raison d’être is the showdown between Murrow and McCarthy, and to pad out the remaining 80-some minutes, Clooney tosses in all kinds of extraneous, pointless stuff: repeated and irritating songs from a chanteuse who apparently hangs around CBS singing; an odd, surreptitious romance between Robert Downey, Jr., and Patricia Clarkson; and a twitchy Ray Wise as anchor Don Hollenbeck, who’s driven by a newspaper columnist to a tragic act – although what this has to do with McCarthy is never very clear. The pacing is all wrong, and the ending is abrupt and dissatisfying.
Good Night, and Good Luck would have made a fine TV show, using not only the original McCarthy footage, but also the real Murrow clips. That’s not a knock against David Strathairn, who’s terrific and has the perfect voice for Murrow’s persona. But there’s just no reason to cast actors and dump a load of filler that only clouds the true issue. And it’s primarily about TV, so it would be only fitting to show it on the small screen. Speaking of TV, I couldn’t help but notice that this is the second movie in recent years about heroic CBS News employees (although this one is the polar opposite of The Insider in at least one respect: just about everyone on screen has a cigarette in his hands just about all the time).
Okay, so
that was the movie.
I couldn’t really think of any questions to ask Strathairn or
the
actor/producer Grant Heslov, who were the two advertised panelists, and
I was
starving and tired, so I was thinking of slipping out.
But I decided to stay for a few minutes at
least – and rejoiced in my decision when the moderator (a CAP policy
wonk who
clearly had never heard of any of the actors involved in the movie)
announced,
as the final panelist, “the director and co-producer, George Clooney.”
Yes, George Clooney was there. Yes, he is extraordinarily handsome. He is also witty, articulate, and extremely informed about media and politics. He is by far the biggest star to have shown up for a post-screening Q&A that I’ve attended (sorry, Paul and Chris Weitz, Ted Demme and Thandie Newton, Bruce Campbell, and, most of all, John Sayles – not sorry at all, Tom Selleck).
When the panel ended, as we were trying to get out of the theater, a giant clot of people blocked the exit trying to get their face time with George Clooney. As he slowly made his way through the crowd, he passed right below me. I could have spit on his head. But I wouldn’t do that. When I finally got out of the theater, I passed within a few feet of him, and I thought about waiting in the huge scrum of women trying to get to him, but I was so tired, and I didn’t really want to be like the primping, preening girlies (for one thing, it would look totally pathetic on someone my age). What would I say to the man, anyway? Well, okay, we’d have loads to talk about: how much we hate Bush, how the corporatized media sucks, when he’s going to take me to his villa in Italy…
Instead, I went home.
Which I regretted the next morning, because “I shook hands with
George
Clooney” would have been so much more jealousy-inducing than “I almost
could
have shaken hands with George Clooney.”
(But the moderator muttered something about how he thought they
would be
hosting a screening of Clooney’s next movie, Syriana,
so I may get another chance at that handshake. And
maybe Matt Damon will show for that one,
too!)
Oh, and I should also mention a handout that I got at the screening about a new “online journalism community” called Report It Now. They are looking for “citizen journalists ready and willing to take the media into their own hands.” Here’s the description from the handout: “Whether it is editorial essay of three paragraphs, 300 words or more, an audio commentary or a video report lasting 5 minutes or less, all mediums are welcome. The assignment is simple: Find something that moves you to action and make your voice heard. From civil rights abuses to government corruption to an injustice experienced in your own backyard, your work WILL be published within the Report It Now community. … Have your piece ready to upload on FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7 and join this community of citizen journalists dedicated to being catalysts for change.” They also note that PBS, The Nation, Channel 1, and XM Satellite Radio are partnering with Report It Now to review the submissions and will consider broadcasting some of the best.
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