Good Night, and Good Luck. 2005

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: There's no sense of nostalgia to the picture, no wistful romanticism or longing. Instead, the movie has a steely, dead-serious vitality -- a sense of immediacy and urgency that makes it seem it could be happening right now. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: A sleek broadcast journalism procedural. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: See it, to see what the news once was -- and to see what movies can be. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: I found it to be one of most intelligent and insightful movies ever made about the television news business and about the profoundly un-American practice of labeling dissenters as traitors. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Stirring yet understated. Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: A merely good movie. Read more

Bill Muller, Arizona Republic: Clooney, who gained weight to play Murrow's producer, Fred Friendly, has made a solid film and his sense of humor remains intact. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: A hermetically sealed period piece so intensely relevant to our current state of affairs that it takes your breath away. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Good Night, and Good Luck couldn't be more unlikely, more unfashionable -- or more compelling. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: It's an interesting way to represent the past, though the use of space, actors, and archival footage seems more theatrical than cinematic. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: As an actor, George Clooney is often compared with vintage stars like Cary Grant, but with his latest work he aligns himself with history's great directors. Read more

Paul Clinton (CNN.com), CNN.com: Good Night, and Good Luck will probably need a little bit of luck (and good word-of-mouth) to succeed, but seek it out: It's a terrific film. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: A solid achievement. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Clooney makes an elegant argument that something of vital interest is still at stake in this story. It would take a stubborn soul to disagree. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: In his second outing as a director, Clooney expertly evokes the revved, split-second drama of the early days of live TV. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: Mr. Clooney doesn't sacrifice story and theme for sermonizing, which is perhaps Good Night's most impressive feat. Read more

Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: There's no doubt that the movie gives Murrow his due as one of broadcast journalism's last great figures. Read more

Gene Seymour, Newsday: Strathairn's Murrow is poised at the center of this quiet whirlwind and this 'actor's actor' deftly weaves many aspects of the broadcaster's mercurial personality within the movie's tight time frame. Read more

Ken Tucker, New York Magazine/Vulture: ... it telescopes -- with no loss of accuracy -- Murrow's last few fifties hurrahs as the hardest diamond in Bill Paley's 'Tiffany network.' Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Good Night, and Good Luck says two things, at least, and they are worth repeating: There is always the chance for one good man to make a difference. And in 1954, Edward R. Murrow did. Read more

David Edelstein, NPR's Fresh Air: A passionate and rousing piece of filmmaking -- a civics lesson with the punch of a good melodrama. Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: The biggest little movie of the year -- and one of the best ever about the news media. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: This is a mesmerizing film from start to finish, directed by Mr. Clooney with admirable self-assurance, and a miraculous 90 minutes. Read more

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: Mr. Strathairn does capture much of Murrow's formal manner, particularly the measured cadences of his sentences. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: The bottom line on Good Night, and Good Luck? See it. Now. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Part docu-drama, part thriller, and part cautionary tale, the movie offers something to everyone who craves more than escapism from the cinema. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Clooney's message is clear: Character assassination is wrong, McCarthy was a bully and a liar, and we must be vigilant when the emperor has no clothes and wraps himself in the flag. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: This is serious grown-up entertainment with a sense of history and a sense of style, the kind of picture almost no one knows how to - - or, perhaps more accurately, can find the means to - - make anymore. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Part drama and part civics lesson, Good Night, and Good Luck is an entertaining slice of American political and cultural history. Read more

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: We're not sure if Strathairn is playing Murrow or channeling him. Either way, we're impressed. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The best film of the year. More important, it's one of the most patriotic movies ever made. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Good Night, and Good Luck may be simplified history, but it's almost consistently well-crafted. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Clooney continues to improve as both a writer and director, showing huge advancement from his underwhelming 2002 helming debut Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: It's a modest but powerful affair, and a fantastic mood piece. Read more

Mike Clark, USA Today: George Clooney's second directorial outing couldn't be more topical, though the events it chronicles occurred over half a century ago. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: A vital chapter of mid-century history is brought to life concisely, with intimacy and matter-of-fact artistry. Read more

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice: Clooney's brilliantly orchestrated and seriously respectful movie can be seen as a grim shoulder tap, lamenting the social irresponsibility of what Gore Vidal likes to call the 'United States of Amnesia.' Read more

Stephen Hunter, Washington Post: The film, therefore, is like a child's view of these events, untroubled by complexity, hungry for myth and simplicity. Read more