Perverse Pleasures

Reviewing two George Clooney movies at once.

Up until Good Night, and Good Luck, there was a fairly common theme to [witch|communist]-hunt or whistle-blower stories: you can keep your integrity and lose your job/liberty/life, or you can keep your job/liberty/life at the expense of your integrity. This dichotomy, while making for some wonderful drama and inner struggles, was pretty damn depressing. The message that it sent was, if you're going to do this, you're going to lose everything. If you stand up to the tyranny, expect to be buried. Your only real hope was to become a martyr.

Good Night, and Good Luck is a lefty feel-good film, and if you read my blog at all, you already know I'm a lefty (and I feel good). What I mean is this: when you see this movie, the vibe you carry out is this: speak Truth to Power; be empowered by the Truth. If you're feeling a little down because of the current regime's bizarro-world take on world affairs, this is the movie you need to see.

If you want to exit a movie theater feeling good, however, don't go and see Syriana. If you're looking for something with teeth, something that may just wake the sleeping populace to the here-to-for behind-the-scenes machinations that drive the oil industry (and, by extension, the Bush administration), Syriana's your movie. It pulls few punches as it explores just how far the current bunch of Petrolcrats will go to preserve their stranglehold on the world's most precious resource.

Mind you, for those of us who have been paying attention, who remember what the Marines did for the American fruit companies in Central America, nothing in this film comes as much of a surprise. For us, it's just a well-told story with good acting and good writing. I still recommend it.

On trivial notes, Grant Heslov, one of my favorite character actors, co-wrote the screenplay for Good Night, and Good Luck, and Syriana features Alexander Siddig, the fine Dr. Bashir in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. I hope that their involvement in their respective films leads to much greater success for them both, as I think they're both sadly overlooked talents.