by SARAH ROWLAND

George Clooney’s been a card-carrying handsome actor for some time now, but his latest project Good Night, and Good Luck proves that he’s more than just a chiselled face with a bedroom voice. Not that his directorial debut Confessions of a Dangerous Mind wasn’t a solid effort, it’s just that this most recent stint behind the camera clearly demonstrates he has all the makings of a future Hollywood legend.

Along with directing, he co-wrote and co-starred in this black-and-white retelling of Edward R. Murrow’s on-air battle with Senator Joseph McCarthy. As the anchor of the popular ’50s news program See it Now, Murrow (brilliantly played by David Strathairn) and his loyal producer Fred Friendly (Clooney) take on the head of the Un-American Activities Committee. They do so at the risk of becoming targets of McCarthy’s pinko witch-hunt. And when sponsors with military connections threaten to pull out their ads, it’s Murrow and Friendly who reimburse CBS for lost advertising revenues.

Clearly, Clooney sees these men as heroes. Fair enough. Themes of media manipulation and corporate control have obviously never been more timely. But in the same token, Clooney doesn’t feel the need to shove any obvious “Un-American/Anti-American” parallels down our throats—the story speaks for itself.

With the exception of one subplot—in which two CBS employees (Robert Downey Jr. and Patricia Clarkson) break company policy and wed in secrecy—most of the film takes place in a nervous, smoke-filled newsroom. As the anxious journos wait for the axe to fall, they talk over each other, dart nervous glances at one another every time the phone rings and puff on their never-ending butts like it’s their only lifeline. Clooney recreates this tension-filled period so well that the archival footage of McCarthy’s televised interrogations integrate seamlessly. At times, the dialogue flows as though there is no script, like we’re watching a documentary on the rise and fall of See it Now—imagine the Maysles’ documentary Salesman as a political drama.

If this Good Night, and Good Luck is any indication of Clooney’s potential (and I think it is), expect to see him 40 years from now accepting his lifetime achievement award.

Good Night, and Good Luck opens Friday, Oct. 28

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