The Bottom Line
Pros
- Unusual character study of a fictionalized version of one of the CIA's founders
- Intricately plotted tale that takes place in a shadowy world where no one can be trusted
- Movie has an interesting slant on history from 1939 to 1961
Cons
- Film's lengthy run time and deliberate pace will tax the patience of many viewers
- Characters are unlikable and plot is difficult to follow
- Except for deleted scenes, DVD provides no extras
Description
- DVD containing drama The Good Shepherd (2006) about the origins of the CIA
- Film stars Matt Damon supported by several well-known actors including Angelina Jolie
- Movie directed by Robert De Niro, who appears in a supporting role
- DVD contains 7 deleted scenes with a total running time of 16 minutes
- MPAA rating: R for some violence, sexuality and language
- Feature film run time: 2 hours 47 minutes
- DVD release date: April 3, 2007
Guide Review - The Good Shepherd DVD Review
The Good Shepherd is a character study of the fictional Edward Wilson (Matt Damon). I was impressed by the way the film traces his transformation from a college student interested in poetry and theater to an emotionally shutdown and ruthless CIA official. The movie also gains resonance in its father-son story.
Wilson is intelligent and dedicated, but he's chilly and unlikable. The film shows him moving through a dreary, shadowy world where no one can be trusted. Also, the movie has an intricate narrative structure that is sometimes difficult to follow. But the patient viewer is rewarded with thought-provoking insights.
In the movie's through storyline, Wilson is a senior CIA official in 1961 around the time of the unsuccessful Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba by U.S.-backed Cuban exiles. But via flashbacks, we see many episodes in Wilson's life from his student days at Yale to his World War II service with the Office of Strategic Services to his sparring with Soviet spies during the Cold War. Damon is terrific as the inscrutable Wilson, and he gets strong support from William Hurt, Alec Baldwin, Robert De Niro, John Turturro, Billy Crudup and Michael Gambon.
But the film is not entirely convincing in depicting Wilson's personal life. Much of the dialogue in the domestic scenes is painfully expository. An important part of the story is about his unhappy marriage to a senator's daughter played by a miscast Angelina Jolie. Possibly the role was unplayable as written anyway, but it's particularly difficult to accept Jolie as a patrician, stay-at-home wife in the 1940s and '50s.
The only extras on the DVD are seven deleted scenes with a total run time of 16 minutes, and some of these are worth watching. But at least for viewers who sometimes like cerebral films, I recommend The Good Shepherd DVD as a rental.
