Movie Review (The Good Sheperd)

I rented this last night at one of those new $1 per night DVD rental things they have in grocery stores now. This may be the best idea ever, I wish I had thought of it.

Anyway, this movie is about the CIA and how it came about. Specifically, they spend a lot of time teaching that these men (and women now) are truly patriots. These people will do anything that they believe is in the greater good of our country as a whole. This concept is particularly hard to grasp for most people. There is a belief out there that if people can all sit down with a cup of coffee almost anything can be worked out via negotiations and chit-chat. This is a ridiculous way to view the world and is simply no true. That said I am not condoning every action that any espionage agency takes, I just understand their intent. Back to the movie, these patriots sacrifice their bodies, lives, and families for what they believe is the greater good of The United States. The entire movie is acted out very well and has some definite Hollywood heavyweights that each deliver perfectly on-screen.

The bad news was the direction and screenplay. The time line of the film jumps too many times and does not remain sequential. If you miss one of the hard to read little notations at the bottom of the screen you will be confused quickly. It's also hard because Matt Damon just can't play a 40 something father with a 20 something child he simply looks too young. The only thing they did was change his glasses to make him look older. This was not successful but also no one's fault, he's just too pretty. There is also a scene at the very beginning and at the very that are intricately connected and I am not sure most people would understand what happened since they were sooooo far apart. De Niro tried hard but I think this movie could have had much more punch with some congruity on the time line and a little better light in some scenes. Perhaps some of the "personal" weaknesses of the main character did not make much sense to me either. Some of the indiscretions by Matt Damon were also odd and the reactions of his wife were weird since she had the same issues but whatever.

This movie is good but could have been great, go check it out