The Good Shepherd
2006 Directed by Robert De Niro
Synopsis
The untold story of the most powerful covert agency in the world.
Edward Wilson, the only witness to his father's suicide and member of the Skull and Bones Society while a student at Yale, is a morally upright young man who values honor and discretion, qualities that help him to be recruited for a career in the newly founded OSS. His dedication to his work does not come without a price though, leading him to sacrifice his ideals and eventually his family.
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The Good Shepherd went way beyond not insulting my intelligence. It pretty much threw a bunch of stuff up on the screen and said, "ha! Try to figure that one out!" But I like that in a movie.
I'd rather not be entirely certain what is happening than have it all spelled out for me like I'm some sort of idiot. Which is why I fucking hate flashback sequences. I just fucking saw that! Did you think I forgot what I just saw less than an hour earlier? Do you take me for some sort of idiot!?
The Good Shepherd doesn't have any flashbacks.
Nothing keeps me more interested in a movie - even a very long, slow, and subdued…
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Joseph Palmi: Let me ask you something... we Italians, we got our families, and we got the church; the Irish, they have the homeland, Jews their tradition; even the niggers, they got their music. What about you people, Mr. Wilson, what do you have?
Edward Wilson: The United States of America. The rest of you are just visiting.I'm just going to outright say it. It's probably not a correct statement, but here goes; This film has the best script since Chinatown.
There are multiple reason for this, just as there are multiple reasons and rules that are in play for a script to "work". This film is a crash-course in screenwriting - all you need for a script to…
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Hmmm. I really wanted to like this, given my love of the espionage genre - how can a historical epic about the formation of the CIA, with an awesome cast and De Niro directing possibly fail? Well... it doesn't, exactly, but it never soars either.
Matt Damon is excellent but his character is so horribly restrained and unlikeable he threatens to make the film the same. It's extremely slow in places, too, and I'd say at least a half hour overlong. De Niro's direction is good, but nothing particularly special. It's really a family drama at it's heart, about a man who loses his soul essentially in his attempts to serve his country, covering well over 20 years in the process. It's lush, the support is great (except Billy Crudup sporting an awful plum English accent) but it's at times too worthy, dragging and staid for it's own good.
An epic, yes, but not in terms of entertainment. Mixed bag.
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Well that was a bit of a disappointment. Not as good as I remembered, though that script is still very, very good.
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What a dreary, oppressive film! Make sure you're in a good mood when you watch this. Because you won't end up that way by the conclusion.
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Soooo Boring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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VAYA PUTÍSIMA MIERDA.
La vi hace años, un domingo por la tarde, y quise morir durante cada minuto. Recuerdo muy bien que me pareció insufrible tanto en su forma de contar las cosas como en el baile de años que se daban. Me río yo de los saltos y viajes en el tiempo.
Horrorosa. Puede que tuviera potencial en otras manos pero esta, tal y como ha llegado, es insufrible.
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Jenkkien ulkopolitiikkaa ja kylmän sodan historiallisia jännitteitä yhden henkilön näkökulmasta. Tapahtumat pörrää suunnilleen välillä 1939-1961. Hidastemposta draamaa. Tylsä tarina. Ei jaksa kiinnostaa. Kaikenlaista shaissee sitä Oscar-bileissä hehkutellaankin.
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It suffers some big pacing issues, and largely struggles to keep the viewer interested in what is going on. But it does have a decent plot with great actors.
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Slick and eerie. De Niro directs a great cast and tells the story of a man who is hired by the CIA and works in a world of covert operations and killings whilst trying to hold together a marriage and a relationship with his son.
Matt Damon is very good and Angelina Jolie is a convincing addition to this tale. Well worth a look if you haven't seen it. -
“Der gute Hirte” ist in erster Linie politisches Kino, der sich mit der Arbeit des Geheimdienstes befasst. Doch neben den politischen Ränkelspielen, zeigt der Film auch einen weitere Seite, nämlich die eines Familiendramas. Dabei ist es Robert De Niro in seiner Rolle als Regisseur gelungen sich nicht zwischen die Stühle zu setzen und zwei halbgare Geschichten zu erzählen, vielmehr gelingt es ihm beide Geschichten spannend miteinander zu verbinden. Dabei kann er sich aber auch zu 100 Prozent auf seinen Hauptdarsteller Matt Damon verlassen. Dieser verkörpert Edward Wilson perfekt und bringt seinen Zwiespalt zwischen CIA und Familie mehr als gut auf die Leinwand.
Auch gelingt es Robert De Niro den Zuschauer genau wie seine Hauptfigur Edward Wilson, darüber im Dunkeln zu lassen wer zu den Guten und wer zu zu den Bösen gehört. Dabei schafft er es aber auch, dem Zuschauer immer genug Informationen auf den Weg mitzugeben, um ohne Probleme der Geschichte folgen zu können.
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Um pouco monótono, apesar do bom roteiro e da boa direção.
A bit dull, despite the good script and good direction. -
I missed this on cinema release and the DVD issue also passed me by. I saw it on BBC1 and I wasn't expecting much given the absence of directorial form by Robert De Niro. I was pleasantly surprised. It is an excellent espionage film in the style of TInker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. What it lacks in action - this is most certainly not James Bond or Jason Bourne territory - it makes up for in character study. It held my attention throughout. The only criticism I would make is that Matt Damon's character doesn't physically age enough - he looked the same at the end of the film as he did at the beginning. The performances of everyone are top class as is the cinematography. Highly recommended.