Hmm. Where. To. Begin.
As a former film major and as an ordinary movie viewer, I think there’s a lot to say about this movie. First, I will give my review on “Good Night, And Good Luck.” Then, (briefly spoiling the theme of Communism in this movie) I will try to juxtapose and compare the movie’s plot with a contemporary situation by replacing the problem of “Communism” with a problem in our world today.
This movie has a few holes here and there. Before I begin my review, just keep in mind that this is the perspective of a 19-year-old college student who is often opinionated. Nevertheless, one thing that is wrong with this movie is that there were too many character developing stories.
It’s good to grow a heart for characters, but it seemed whoever was directing this film (George "Amateur" Clooney) had too many characters with background stories. From suicide to hiding a marriage to sustaining the news team, it seemed like we, as an audience, were pulled in every direction. Why is this not a good thing? You don’t grow enough sentiments to feel pity for the suicide. You don’t grow close enough to care which partner in the marriage gets fired. What’s worse is that the protagonist had the least character development out of all the other characters. Clooney is the protagonist. It is good, however, to see an actor sit himself in the director’s chair. That’s cute.
Another flaw of, "Good Night, And Good Luck" is that it does not have a long runtime. Now, I’m skeptical about calling this a "flaw," but I’ll explain the flaw of having this perception. Usually you can tell when a movie is coming to an end. This film seemed like it was one climax after another. There was no true turning point to show the end of the film was near. This can be a good thing because Clooney broke the norm of what movies usually do, and because the audience is concerned with watching, rather than anticipating, the end. Or maybe it’s just me making a smart move not to write a faulty review on a director that the professor admires. His chess game, my moves.
On top of ending too soon, this film also ran its plot too fast. This, however, is justifiable. In the case that this was based on real life events, and that history cannot be condensed into a mere two hours of life, I can understand the movie rushing through the plot. That doesn’t dismiss the fact that it kills the mood for certain scenes, not allowing the audience to live in the reality of the movie long enough to grow sentiments for the characters. This brings us back to point one: There is a lack of heavy audience-to-character connections.
Finally, after looking at the movie as a whole and understanding how Communism plays its role throughout the movie, I can state that this film’s struggle with Communism is like today’s struggle with terrorism. Yes, not police brutality or trashy political representatives. Why does terrorism in today’s world align with Communism from the movie? It is because of the idea of Communism being the "scare" of the entire film.
In today’s world, once the media covers events about terrorism and politics, and talks about how to protect people from it, the American citizens start making a big deal about it. Then, people start getting accused of being something they’re not. It’s almost like history is repeating itself. You know what that means? The next step is the media coming forth and fighting against marginalized citizens and taking a stand to end discrimination. As an opinionated 20-year-old college student, I can admit, It’s not my idea; It’s history’s. So to all those being discriminated against: Good Night, And Good Luck.
