This Halloween the witch-hunt is on. However, instead of black hats and pointy noses, the object of the frenzy is Communism.

Set in 1953, George Clooney’s second directorial effort, Good Night, and Good Luck is based on the clash between broadcast personality Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) and Senator Joseph McCarthy.

In Murrow’s new CBS show, he attacks McCarthy’s mud-slinging and feverish attempts to uncover Communism in all facets of American life. His broadcasts are controversial, putting both CBS and Murrow in the hot seat – and leading McCarthy to denounce Murrow as a Communist himself.

Shot entirely in black and white and mixed with real McCarthy Senate hearing clips, the audience is expertly transported back in time into the middle of the Red Scare hysteria. The fear that pervaded America at this time is palpable, and so is the movie’s lavish praise of Murrow’s heroic efforts.

Strathairn is convincing as the straightforward and serious Murrow, and the supporting cast – including big-name stars such as Clooney (as Murrow’s producer Fred Friendly) and Robert Downey Jr. (as Joe Wershba) – do an excellent job recreating the tense atmosphere of the time. They throw themselves into the period and skillfully portray the staff’s conviction in the face of uncertainty.

However, Good Night, and Good Luck also contains irrelevant asides – such as the sudden shots of a jazz singer and a side plot about a married couple – that would have been better left out. Although these sidetracks lighten the intensity, they have no impact on the main plot and go nowhere.

Nevertheless, the movie is revealing but without frills, focusing only on the struggles against McCarthy without delving any further into Murrow’s personal life. In this way, the movie takes a no-nonsense approach of which Murrow would be proud.

– Samantha Beerman