The Good Shepherd
The Good Shepherd is the fictionalized story of the CIA’s beginning as told through the eyes of Edward Wilson (Matt Damon) and allows Robert De Niro to put on his directing hat once again. Wilson was an idealistic poet before his membership in the Skull and Bones Society ended up connecting him to government officials that recruited him to find Nazi sympathizers. From there on Wilson is committed and is instrumental in the eventual creation of the CIA, even if his need for suspicion and secrecy cost him to sacrifice all personal relationships, including those with his own family.
This is one unbelievably talented cast; sadly, you never get enough of any one person to feel completely satisfied. That is, of course, excluding Matt Damon, who walks around stone faced for the majority of this film. His job is to pretend to be nobody and give nothing away and he definitely does it. Everyone else (Alec Baldwin, Robert De Niro, William Hurt, etc.) are almost here for stunt casting. By having people whose mere presence would lend weight to these characters it helps cover up their lack of development. This is especially true with Angelina Jolie as Margaret Russell. Can you think of a higher profile actress than the female half of Brangelina? Jolie, however, doesn’t really pull the role off. Both Maria Bello and Maggie Gyllenhaal essentially had to pull the same feat in World Trade Center and did so far more successfully, but they didn’t have to adopt a Cambodian baby to do it.
The main problem with this film is that, for its length, you don’t stick with any one character or situation long enough to get attached. I understand that to some degree that’s the point in a world where you can never completely trust anyone and shadowy men slip in and out of the narrative. Unfortunately, an audience won’t really relate to the espionage or the domestic struggle of Wilson. When he chooses the CIA over his family, there’s no sympathy for his wife or child, even if he didn’t want them in the first place.
The story structure itself doesn’t do much to help the situation. Jumping back and forth through time is meant to lead the film gravity, but it just reinforces the fact that we don’t stick in one place long enough to really care. That being said, The Good Shepherd does pick up towards the end of the film, but you can hardly expect the average moviegoer to sit through a whole hour to get to the hour and a half that’s not bad.
Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a bad film, it’s just not as good as it thinks it is. This might be a stretch, but it’s reminds me a little of if you had tried to cram the material from all three Godfather films into one film. The Good Shepherd would probably have benefited from either trimming some fat or really expanding it into a series. One of those two might have made it into an Oscar competitor, but as it is you’re just going to have to go to the bathroom about an hour in and you’ll still have close to two hours left.
The Grade
- Story: B
- Acting: B+
- Visuals: B
- Originality: B
- Enjoyability: C
- Overall: B-
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