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| Movie Review: The Good Shepherd Alternate Title: Secrets and Lies
Story: There are spies among
us - or are there? Director Robert DeNiro treats us
to a fictionalized account (or is it?) of the inception of the CIA with
an engrossing screenplay by Eric Roth (Munich).
Loosely based (or not) on the real life of CIA agent James Jesus
Angleton, we find young Edward Wilson being recruited by Government
spooks to weed out Nazi sympathizers in the Yale faculty. He is hooked.
For love of country he will root out evil, betrayal, moles, double agents
and the vortices of war (both cold and hot). The story begins and ends with the Bay of Pigs debacle. Through an
engrossing series of flashbacks and events of the 'present' we see how
this secret agency got its cast of characters (many from the secretive
Skull and Bones Society) and how it effects us today. I was engrossed with this spy/thriller from the opening scenes to the
very end. However, be warned - if you like your thrillers loaded with
pyrotechnics you will be sorely disappointed. This is a character driven,
methodic, at times plodding study of the less glamorous engineers of
our double and triple crosses, worldwide puppet regimes, unseen creators
of kingdoms and assassins of the guilty (or are they?) I loved it. Acting: Matt Damon is fabulous as
Edward Wilson. He is a smart actor and on my top ten list. He never
disappoints. Angelina Jolie is fine as the lonely wife
but her off-screen press is hard to forget while she is on-screen. The
rest of the cast is right on the money including a hats off to the always
fine Alec Baldwin, Michael Gambon and William Hurt.
Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Billy Crudup, John Turturro Tammy
Blanchard, and Oleg Stefan round out a great
ensemble.
Predilection: I like Matt Damon and I like films with
cloak and dagger plots.
Critters: I did not see it but one of my movie buddies
swears there was a golden retriever in one scene.
Food: There was food at huge dinners and cocktail
parties but it did not look very appetizing. It was probably ruubber
chicken.
Blatant Product Placement: The OSS, FBI, KGB and
CIA
Soundtrack: Excellent.
Visual Art: The film was shot in a noirish mode with
great light, composition and camera angles.
Theater Audience: I saw it in a huge theater with
two friends. There were quite a few people in the theater but they got
swallowed up in the massiveness of the room. By the way, the younger
member of our group was bored by the film but my contemporary and I
liked it.
Weather: The weather was pretty good throughout.
Sappy Factor: 0
Quirky Meter: 0
Squirm Scale: 0
Drift Factor: I did not drift but I did start to look
at my watch as we closed in on the two hour mark.
Predictability Level: Sadly, we know how this agency
turns out.
Tissue Usage: 0
Oscar Worthy: Perhaps.
Nit Picking: I did not see any reason why this could
not have been edited to a two hour film.
Big Screen or Rental: I always vote for the big screen.
Length: A hefty two hours and forty minutes.
LOBO HOWLS: 8.5
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