In association with

The Good Shepherd [2006]
from Universal Pictures UK
starring Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Alec Baldwin
directed by Robert De Niro

Features:

• Anamorphic
• Dubbed
• PAL

Editorial Review:

A complicated movie about the Central Intelligence Agency and its agents, The Good Shepherd isn't your typical spy movie. Though it stars Matt Damon (The Bourne Identity films) and Angelina Jolie (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Lara Croft franchise)--actors with considerable experience in the action-espionage genre--The Good Shepherd requires that they play more subdued and (much less interesting) characters here. The movie focuses on the career or Edward Wilson (Damon), a privileged Yale graduate who goes on to help found the CIA. He is a quiet, serious, and guarded man, even in the most intimate moments with his civilian wife (Jolie, in a role that wastes her talent). Set against a backdrop of real-life events such as the Bay of Pigs, The Good Shepherd is meticulous in creating a realistic timeframe. The film gets a jolt of excitement when Robert DeNiro (in his first directing role since 1993's A Bronx Tale) peppers the screen with appearances by Joe Pesci, Alec Baldwin, and William Hurt. But those moments are too infrequent. At 157 minutes long, the film is crammed with many factual details, but the characters are shortchanged when it comes to development. Viewers have to wonder why anyone, much less someone like Wilson who has everything going for him, would devote his life to a thankless job that brings so little happiness to himself and his family. The Good Shepherd is an ambitious but flawed film. The actors do a formidable job with a well-intentioned but meandering script. However, we meet so many characters and learn so little about each that it's difficult to drum up much empathy for any of them. --Jae-Ha Kim

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

• As a director, De Niro proves he's still a pretty good actor
  Robert DeNiro and Matt Damon were responsible for possibly my biggest disappointment of 2007, The Good Shepherd, which has to be one of the five or six most boring films I have ever seen. When requesting the DVD from a friend for my birthday, I was expecting a complex, dour, all-star conspiracy thriller along the lines of the BBC's classic adaptation of John LeCarre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. What I actually got was a film that was so dull the plot washed over me without leaving one mark on my memory.... more info

• Above Average Spy Film; Let Down By Fictionalised History
  The CIA's primary role at the time, covert operations in Guatemala, Iran and Cuba are barely explored. De Niro creates a fictional reason for the botched Bay of Pigs invasion and also contrives an allusion to the death of CIA scientist Frank Olson via surreptitious administration of LSD. It would have been preferable if Mr De Niro had stuck to the known facts.
  Matt Damon's character is a dour and humourless man. Was the real James Angleton such a dull character? We do know he was later wracked by... more info

• The Good Shepherd
  'The Good Shepherd' is one of those films that could have offered so much more, and sadly didn't. The cast was good, the direction was good, the story was good and yet nothing seemed to gel and you're left feeling strangely dissatisfied with everything. The story is very slow paced and although I can normally enjoy films of this type, I found this to be quite a laboured affair. Set against the backdrop of WW2 and the bay of pigs fiasco this story has some great historical touches and added some authenticity... more info

• I spy with my little eye - something beginning with `d' - for dull.
  De Niro makes a surprising move here into spy territory - not modern Bourne type stuff (despite the presence of Matt Damon) but more like an American John Le Carre type story, in its understated events and emphasis on character. It's a noble endeavor, at times wonderfully shot - however, it is ultimately too flawed to succeed as entertainment.
  The story revolves around the creation of the CIA, seen through the eyes of Edward Wilson (a composite of several real life characters). It plays as a character... more info

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