Not to digress into Oscar talk, but while I agree that Strathairn did a decent job of portraying Murrow, I think it was a much less challenging role. He basically had to look like Murrow (which he did, kind of, due at least in part to the makeup crew and the black-and-white format), and maintain a sort of impassive demeanor throughout the movie. He did it well, but Phoenix's task -- potraying a wider range of emotions, and making us believe that he was Cash despite the fact that we all know what Cash really looked, acted, and sounded like -- was much more difficult, in my opinion.