Anyone else see this? It reprises Edward R. Murrow's role in stopping McCarthy, but it is also just a great "50s" movie. I thought it was terrific.
On a side note... I looked up Murrow on Wikipedia after seeing it, and found the movie didn't exaggerate his chain smoking... died of lung cancer at age 57.
I've been wanting to see it so badly, but last time I checked it wasn't playing nearby.
I've been looking forward to this one as well. Hopefully, I'll get a chance next weekend. By the way, whats most extraordinary about all the smoking in the movie is that Straitharn (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) is a non-smoker who basically had to smoke the whole time to make the movie.
I can't wait to see this. It's playing at our independant theater.
Saw it. The music is great. I'm more curious about Fred Friendly than Murrow-- since Murrow more or less continually gives Friendly co-creator status, yet Fred is sitting at Murrow's feet just off camera tapping him with a pencil when needed.
What was that about?
Saw this a couple of weeks ago and really liked it. The script is actually pretty clever because it seems like 80% of it could have come from actual transcripts (taking into account that a lot of real footage is shown as well). Amazing how eloquent Murro was.
On the flip side, I think I liked Michael Mann's The Insider a litter better only because there was an emotional anchor (Wigand/Crowe) to help humanize the ethical debates going on behind the newsroom. Here, that saem emotional anchor really isn't there.
The performances are all top notch though, great script, and tight directing. Definitely worth catching if this one comes to your neck of the woods.
I saw this tonight, and what a great movie. It's one-sided and preachy, but McCarthy is one of the few subjects that I'm willing to see people get preachy about. What a hideous, hateful, unamerican man he was. I know that Clooney is not very subtly saying "Bush is Evil," but the movie is so well-made that it really sells itself (plus I totally agree, so that helps). Really well put together, and a great cast. Not a bad one in the bunch. Strathairn comes out of left field for me and turns in a terrific performance. Highly recommended.
Seeing it tomorrow night at the Iowa City Bijou - staving off Harry Potter for a night to, in fact.
If you want to know more about Fred Friendly, check out his memoir "Due to Circumstances Beyond Our Control" I read it about 10 years ago and loved it.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081...books&v=glance
I took my Broadcast Journalism class to see it. Afterwards they all wanted to take up Chain Smoking and join the Communist Party. :D
You should take them to see Triumph of the Will to even it out then.Originally Posted by GregB
Saw this movie yesterday and liked it a lot. I know little about the times it portrayed, and wonder if there is ANY sympathetic side to Joe McCarthy's story at all. He certainly was portrayed as solely pernicious. From what little I know, he deserves to be planted firmly in the "you did wrong" camp, but still, the movie didn't say much about what it was like to live in those times.
Ok, I'll take my best stab at this.
First, McCarthy wasn't entirely wrong. There were communist in the government. Second, there were people from behind the scenes encouraging him. Third, a lot of people in the congress that kept quite and didn't speak against him because they agreed with what he was doing. Given another set of circumstances, he might of not gone over the line and beome some an awful person.
My impression was that was the final "1" queue given that murrow was now "on air".
Really good movie. The Liberace bit was great. First one in awhile where the audience clapped at the end. Though most in the theater were likely over 40.
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