There’s not much that isn’t good about this movie. Like the Edward R. Murrow "See it Now" story, this is the tale of a movie that tries to expose things that make people uncomfortable and subsequently get labeled as either a hero or a heretic. Strike a familiar chord?

This movie was blasted by people who hadn’t seen it, a pretty constant affair now, in the news media. Pundits, or “reporters” from organizations like Fox News tried to poke at it, saying that it was a veiled criticism of the Bush administration.

In a mirror darkly?

The truth of the matter is that this movie in no way touches the current political climate or makes any judgments about it. The part that frightens people watching this movie is the realization upon seeing it that the very subject matter that the work covers, the witch hunt of the McCarthy “communist” hearings, is very similar to what’s going on today. In further disservice to the heroism that Murrow rendered, our news media is now no longer a paragon of information, as Murrow predicted, but rather a box where we sensationalize missing white women, rich white women, or encourage a blind obedience irrespective of the truths in any one story, with no reporter to a man willing to seek out and cull the bright truths that Murrow was so strong at achieving.

It is frightening to the fringe right of this country because it exposes the way that saying you have an opposing viewpoint gives succor to the enemy does a disservice to both sides, and that the free exchange of ideas which make up the founding of this great nation is always under threat by those who seem to seek to protect it.

Imagine someone saying, as Murrow, that those who accuse people of being terrorists who are not give succor to the enemy? But, to wit, that appears to be the circumstance. Regardless, to say so is to be crucified in the court of public opinion. The terrorists wished to change our lives and drag us into chaos. This is, in effect, what creating a society of fear
irrespective of the terrorist goals has led to, and it is what is on your mind when you watch this movie, despite no clear message of bias.

Which is, to me, the mark of any good movie. It doesn’t preach, but it still conveys a powerful message of history. Though I like a good polemic Michael Moore movie, this movie, in much more powerful and innocent ways, proclaims truths that we would do well to heed.

The performances are very well done, particularly Murrow. The staging of the film is good, with the inevitable fall of the axe, yes, but all in all, well filmed, well played, well scripted, and astonishingly, not belabored at a fine 93 minute mark. Most movies that go for two and a half hours can’t achieve what this film did in nearly half that.

It makes me dream of a time when reporting is valued more than a quiz show. It also emphasizes, to personal heartbreak, that that time is far away now, and growing farther by the day.

That’s a powerful message. One worth heeding.

The beginning was a bit slow. It took two minutes and thirty seconds for the film to get rolling despite film. Though I know this is a requirement of the guild, the credits, I still like a movie that just jumps right in, and the beginning was extraneous.

Some of the relationships were unclear at first. Who Friendly was to Murrow, etcetera. Nothing too bad.

I’ve always hated George Clooney and thought him a pretty boy retard without a brain in his head. This movie gave me both a complete one-eighty and a damned good time. Is this movie worth a buy? Only if you want to be depressed re-watching it. But is it an experience? Yes. And in a world where most award-nominated films blow more chunks than a whore with a Goonie fetish, I’d check this one out and hope it wins a few.

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