Good Night, and Good Luck.

Cinephile deep dive

The take

George Clooney directs. Robert Elswit behind the camera. Jim Papoulis scores. Stephen Mirrione cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in France, Japan, United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Made its money back 7.8× over at the box office.
• 2Released 21 years ago.
• 3International production across 4 countries: France, Japan, United Kingdom, United States of America.
• 4Directed by George Clooney, shot by Robert Elswit. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Original score by Jim Papoulis. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 6Editor Stephen Mirrione shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7David Strathairn and Patricia Clarkson and George Clooney carry the top of the cast.
• 8Marketing tagline: "We will not walk in fear of one another.".
• 9IMDB entry: tt0433383 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 10Classified under 13 themes, including "government", "telecaster", "political activism", "politician".

The technical file

Cinematography

Robert Elswit

Original score

Jim Papoulis

Editing

Stephen Mirrione

Production design

James D. Bissell

Costume design

Louise Frogley

Makeup / hair

Ron Berkeley

Sound

Curt Schulkey

Runtime

93 min · 1h 33m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$7,000,000

Box office

$54,600,000

Return

780% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG

IMDB

Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) ↗

Also by

George Clooney

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  2005 · ★ 8.5
• 
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  2019 · ★ 7.3
• 
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  2023 · ★ 7.2
• 
  The Ides of March

  2011 · ★ 6.7
• 
  Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

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• 
  The Tender Bar

  2021 · ★ 6.6

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• CinemaSerf2024-05-08
  ★ 7/10

  There's a brief clip at the start of "Sink the Bismarck" (1960) that illustrates the impact of Edward R. Murrow's potent and succinct style of broadcasting that eventually led to him receiving an award from his peers at the beginning of this film. It's his acceptance speech that sets the tone for a retrospective that focuses on his time attempting to stand up for the civil liberties of many American people during the investigations by Senator Joseph McCarthy of Minnesota into the alleged infiltration of just about all aspects of society by communists and their allies. David Strathairn delivers one of his best performances here as the man whose stance earns him plaudits from some quarters, but enmity from others who accuse him of being an appeaser - or worse. Determined, he nevertheless becomes dependant on the good will of his network chief executive (Frank Langella) and stalwart producer Fred Friendly (George Clooney) as he issues a challenge to the politician and risks his career. In many ways these men had similarities of character. The use of archive footage of McCarthy and the pieces-to-camera from Strathairn offers us two contrasting styles, attitudes and sets of beliefs and though clearly the editorial is pro-Murrow, it still allows us to experience and evaluate some of the frenzy that prevailed at the time when the cold war was very much at it's height. Director Clooney uses a documentary style of intense monochrome photography to quite chillingly expose us to the perils of free reporting at a time when swimming agains a tide that would stop at nothing to rubbish it's opponents was no small gamble. It packs lots to think about into ninety minutes and emphasises the still quite dangerous scenarios that dogma coupled with a strong cult of personality can deliver to an unwitting population.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Warner Independent Pictures

  US

• 

  2929 Productions

  US

• 

  TFC

  JP

• 

  Participant

  US

• 

  Section Eight

  US

• 

  Davis Films

  FR

• 

  Lionsgate UK

  GB

Key crew

• Executive ProducerMarc Butan
• Executive ProducerTodd Wagner
• Executive ProducerChris Salvaterra
• Executive ProducerJeff Skoll
• Executive ProducerJennifer Fox
• Executive ProducerBen Cosgrove
• Costume DesignLouise Frogley
• EditorStephen Mirrione
• Executive ProducerMark Cuban
• Executive ProducerSteven Soderbergh
• Art DirectionChrista Munro
• ProducerGrant Heslov
• Set DecorationJan Pascale
• CastingEllen Chenoweth
• Production DesignJames D. Bissell
• Co-Executive ProducerVictor Hadida
• Co-ProducerSimon Franks
• Co-ProducerKiyotaka Ninomiya
• Co-ProducerZygi Kamasa
• Unit Production ManagerBarbara A. Hall
• Co-Executive ProducerSamuel Hadida
• Art Department CoordinatorCharlotte Raybourn
• First Assistant "B" CameraJohn T. Connor
• First Assistant EditorDouglas Crise

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• government
• telecaster
• political activism
• politician
• based on true story
• anti-communism
• black and white
• mccarthyism
• tv news anchor
• 1950s
• government witch hunt
• complex
• complicated

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere2005-09-23· New York Film Festival
• Premiere2005-10-29· Savannah Film and Video Festival
• Theatrical (limited)2005-10-07PG
• Theatrical2005-11-04PG
• Physical2006-08-01

Also known as

International titles

• Buenas Noches, y Buena SuerteES
• Good Night and Good Luck - Der Fall McCarthyDE
• Boa Noite e Boa SorteBR
• Kalinyhta, kai kali tyhi.GR
• Kalinyxta, kai kali tyxi.GR