The Good Shepherd

Robert DeNiro has been wanting to make this movie for along time. Let’s see if it worked out for him.

But first, a few previews:

BREACH–I’m sure I’ve previewed this one before, but I just can’t get over the fact that people are still giving Ryan Phillippe good roles. It just pisses me off. This looks like an awesome movie, but there’s Phillippe, just waiting to suck.

Blech.

EPIC MOVIE–Ok, this was on Black Christmas, but it’s another stinker. It’s a parody film that parodies every single film ever made. And it looks terrrrrrrrible. There’s just nothing funny about this preview. Fuck it. Next movie.

ZODIAC–Not a typical David Fincher movie even though he’s been here before. It’s, of course, about the Zodiac killer in the 70s (who was also the basis for the killer in Dirty Harry), which Fincher mined in Seven. But this doesn’t look as crazy as his other work. Of course, I may be mainly going off of Fight Club since it’s been a long time since I’ve seen Seven.

With Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey, Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards and Ione Skye, there’s a great cast involved. I can’t wait for this one. A lot of people didn’t like Panic Room (I thought it was alright), so maybe he can redeem himself with this one.

Ok, on to Bobby’s dream project.

What does it take to protect the most powerful nation in the world? Apparently, it takes lots and lots of sacrifice.

Edward Wilson (Matt Damon) was the first (semi-fictional) member of the CIA. He was approached while he was still in college in the late 30s and remained in the Agency well into the 60s. He was in Europe throughout World War II and tried to keep the Soviet Union out of Cuba in the 60s.

All the while, he had a wife (Angelina Jolie) and kid back home who didn’t really know him. He was pulled away from her a week after their shotgun wedding and didn’t meet his little boy until the war was over.

And things never really got better for the Wilsons.

This is an incredibly long movie. At nearly 3 hours and about 50 characters to keep track of, it’s one that needs about 5 viewings before you really catch onto what’s going on. And, considering the fact that it was slow and I was tired, I got a little nap in somewhere in the middle. I accidentally closed my eyes when Edward was in Europe and woke up when he was in bed with a strange woman. Things change in the prolonged blink of an eye.

But what I saw (which was most of it. I think I was only asleep for about 10-15 minutes) was very well made and acted. DeNiro has shown that he’s a very good director before with A Bronx Tale and I’m glad he decided to go back behind the camera. And the fact that he did it with a prequel to Meet The Parents makes it all the better!

Actually, this is a mafia film with CIA spooks instead of gangsters. Everyone is connected and no one can be trusted. You never know who has allegiances to whom, which makes for hard, but interesting viewing.

And with this cast, it’s hard to go wrong. Alec Baldwin, Billy Crudup, Joe Pesci, DeNiro, William Hurt, Michael Gambon, Timothy Hutton, John Turrturro (in a role exactly the opposite of his Miller’s Crossing role) and John Sessions (popping up for the first time in years that I know of). It’s a dream cast for a movie like this. And Matt is gaining a patent on the quiet, stoic, nearly creepy guy who could kill you at the drop of a hat. He’s very good at being the guy that you know is doing what he thinks is right, but is kind of going about it all the wrong way.

The story of the birth of the CIA is a very interesting one and it deserves an amazing film. It’s especially interesting at this point in history. And The Good Shepherd is a very good film, but it’s not as great as it could have been. I want to see it again just to try to piece everything together, but it will have to wait until video.