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Avg. Critic Score: 80 out of 100 Universal acclaim Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
13 OK for kids 13+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    USA Today | Mike Clark

    The only things missing from making this showdown worthy of a Western is Murrow's sheriff's badge, a dusty street and maybe a spittoon for McCarthy's infamous invectives. Read full review

  • 100
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    The other key character is McCarthy himself, and Clooney uses a masterstroke: He employs actual news footage of McCarthy, who therefore plays himself. Read full review

  • 90
    Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan

    Couldn't be more unlikely, more unfashionable -- or more compelling. Read full review

  • 90
    The New York Times | Dana Stevens

    He [Clooney] has found a cogent subject, an urgent set of ideas and a formally inventive, absolutely convincing way to make them live on screen. Read full review

  • 88
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    In ninety-three tight, terrifically exciting minutes, Clooney makes integrity look mighty sexy. Read full review

  • 83
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    Good Night, and Good Luck has a small-scale time-capsule fascination, yet its hermeticism is really a form of moral caution -- a way of keeping the issues neat, the liberal idealism untainted. Read full review

  • 80
    Variety | Todd McCarthy

    A vital chapter of mid-century history is brought to life concisely, with intimacy and matter-of-fact artistry. Read full review

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    An entertaining slice of American political and cultural history. Read full review

  • 70
    The Hollywood Reporter | Ray Bennett

    Moviegoers who know their American political history will respond to the film's immediacy and forgive the film's tight focus and narrow view. Anyone hoping for an entertaining drama about newsmen and politics along the lines of "All the President's Men" will be disappointed. Read full review

  • 50
    Washington Post | Stephen Hunter

    The film, therefore, is like a child's view of these events, untroubled by complexity, hungry for myth and simplicity. Read full review

View more reviews for Good Night, and Good Luck on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 13+ Compelling political drama won't engage most kids.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this drama includes some mild language and nearly non-stop smoking (Murrow's addiction is well known). The notorious Senator Joseph McCarthy appears in news footage, condemning people as "communists" in the HUAC hearings and on television, based on spurious or no evidence. A husband and wife employed by CBS must hide the fact of their marriage because it's against company policy. Coworkers drink at a bar after work. During Murrow's interview with Liberace, the famously gay pianist talks about wanting to find a good woman, something of an inside joke. A journalist is so unnerved by accusations that he's a communist that he kills himself (off screen, but other characters react to the news).
  • Families can talk about the basic moral and political issues the film raises. What is the news media's role with regard to government corruption, error, and cover-up? How does the film incorporate images of black women -- one in footage being grilled by McCarthy, and another singing in a CBS recording studio -- as comments on the abuse of power by white authorities?
The good stuff
  • message true3 Positive messages: Senator McCarthy is a monster, but the journalists are stoic and smart.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: A character kills himself offscreen.
  • sex false0 Sex: Very brief, between husband and wife.
  • language false0 Language: Mild (damn and hell).
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: 1950s era ads for cigarettes, Alcoa as a sponsor for news shows.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Non-stop smoking, some drinking at a neighborhood bar after work.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Good Night, and Good Luck Movie Ratings + Reviews

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