The running time is 1 hr. 33 mins..
Back before the movie came out I had already heard of how great David Strathairn was as Edward R. Murrow and how great the film was so I had that on my conscience. I also knew that if I wanted to I could interview Strathairn as he was Seattle was going to be a stop on his PA Tour. Once again, another notch in the belt and more motivation to see the film and like it.
Before going into the screening I knew NOTHING about Murrow... Okay, that isn't altogether true, I knew a little about his battle with McCarthy but I didn't know the complete story and that, I believe, was the number one reason I didn't connect with this film... or so I thought. Not to mention it was the reason I never wrote a theatrical review and decided to pass on an interview with Strathairn, which was really hard to do considering you could see his Oscar nomination coming from a mile away.
Back to this review however, and thanks to the DVD release I believe I have found out what my main beef with this film is... It shows no real passion! Notice, I didn't say it doesn't have any passion, I said it doesn't show any. Murrow is just this straight faced chain-smoking genius journalist that might not show emotion if you lit a match under his ass and Strathairn nails it. Okay, great. So there is a good performance in it and as you will hear director George Clooney say on his commentary "This is a movie of talking heads."
Talking heads indeed, and how do you make that compelling beyond what those heads are saying? Especially if you don't have any personal experience or knowledge on the subject being talked about.
This is not to say this is a bad movie, because it isn't. There is some really good stuff in here and some of the situations and broadcasts that are reproduced are fantastic, but on a whole I just don't have a lot of interest in this one, but this DVD does add a little to the excitement. If you can call it that.
Clooney and producer/screenwriter Grant Heslov sit down and chat it up in a feature length commentary and it is actually better than the movie alone in my opinion. The two give a ton of secrets into the making of the film, their opinions on what is on screen and a cool little trick of the trade in an elevator scene. They are also quiet and pay attention to the movie as it plays, which means you get a lot more insight and are able to get more from the movie thanks to their comments. I actually am going to go back and watch it one more time without the commentary and see if it can sway my opinion on the movie. Who knows, maybe these two fellas can change my opinion.
The other little feature that comes on this single-disc release is a mini featurette looking behind the scenes giving you a look and listen to the cast, crew and the folks that new Murrow and their opinion on the film and Murrow himself. It is described as a "Companion Piece" and that is really all it is.
On a whole, this is definitely a rental, not a buy. The only people that should be buying this film are college professors to show their broadcast journalism classes, then again Network or All the President's Men may be better choices for in class entertainment. Actually, show all three, give the kids a break!