Why so red-faced?: "Good Night, and Good Luck"

It's hard to believe there was a time when an idiotic, badgering windbag with absolutely no facts could command so much attention from so many small minds. But enough about Bill O'Reilly. (Pa dum dum.)

Even Gen Xers like me know the basic story of Joe McCarthy and the Red Scare, when the bloviating junior senator from Wisconsin threw around allegations of communists in key positions of government and elsewhere. I was less familiar with how McCarthy was brought down, in large part by legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow. We can thank George T. Clooney for educating our ignorant souls.

Clooney, apparently not happy with"Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" as his only turn behind the camera, directs a solid ensemble cast in a curiosity of a movie: It's black and white, set almost entirely in CBS studios, and features virtually no women. (The excellent Patricia Clarkson gets little to do, and the only other member of the double-x chromosome set is a jazz singer whose songs provide breaks in the action.

Our story has Murrow and Co. deciding to take on McCarthy after he goes too far by picking on a poor military guy. But rather than bellow and insult people like today's top talking heads, Murrow essentially lets McCarthy hang himself, even if there's a bunch of hand-wringing along the way. You know, given that people actually did not like Communists in the 1950s.

Perhaps this is just a glorified history lesson, but it's more than a little applicable today, between the pandering by some media instead of actual stories and the witch hunts we see from time to time. ("You know Samir down the street? I swear he was the 21st hijacker!") Murrow was a real journalist who, true, got stuck doing some cheesy interviews; the Liberace one in "Good Night" is a hoot. (Yes, I just channeled Wilford Brimley.) But he also knew right from wrong and that he could make a difference if his boss would just keep those sponsors off his back.

There's probably more significance here, but I don't want to get too carried away. In any case, the performances are good across the board. David Strathairn, a well-known "that guy" who has done plenty of good stuff ("L.A. Confidential," "Eight Men Out") seems to have Murrow down pat. Clooney ("Return of the Killer Tomatoes") is his sidekick/producer Fred Friendly, Jeff Daniels ("The Butcher's Wife") is their immediate boss, and Frank Langella ("Cutthroat Island") is the top guy at CBS. All comes across naturally, as does the period in general, i.e. a bunch of white guys in white shirts and dark ties smoking all day at the office.

No question "Good Night" isn't for everybody, but it also gets the job done rather briskly, moving through the Murrow-McCarthy follies in about 90 minutes before leaving us with Murrow's biting criticism of television failing America. Again, something to think about today. Now if you'll excuse me, "Elimidate" is about to start.