THE GOOD SHEPHERD

Reviewed by Harvey S. Karten
Universal Pictures
Grade: C
Directed by: Robert De Niro
Written By: Eric Roth
Cast: Matt Damon, Robert De Niro, Angelina Jolie, Joe Pesci
Screened at: Universal, NYC, 12/6/06
Opens: December 22, 2006

If Robert De Niro directed "Casino Royale," or any other 007
movie, it just might end up on Masterpiece Theater. That's not
a compliment. That PBS series has a reputation among its
detractors for tales valued by insomniacs, stories of high literary
value treasured by elite audiences only. As written by Eric Roth
and directed by Mr. De Niro, "The Good Shepherd" features
Matt Damon in almost every shot as Edward Wilson, a man
who is not only without a sense of humor but whose facial
expression does not change whether he is performing as
Gilbert and Sullivan's Little Buttercup in an amateur production
in 1925 or taking on membership in the secretive Skull and
Bones society or taking his place in the American CIA in 1939.
Even his eyeglasses barely change from their featureless,
circular shape. One can only breathe a sigh of relief that
Wilson's wife, Clover (Angelina Jolie), does not have to put up
with her husband's marmoreal features for six years while her
man is in London doing his cloak-and-dagger routine.

In a long but not uninvolving tale that skips about from 1941 to
1961 to 1939 to 1925 to who-knows-when, De Niro focuses
quite a bit on Edward Wilson's exterior without ever taking us
into his inner life. File films take the audience to of one
America's many fiascos, the Bay of Pigs invasion meant to
topple Cuba's Fidel Castro in 1961, then back to 1939 where
Yale student Wilson is inducted into the secret Skull and
Crossbones society–an elite group that finds among its
membership American presidents, senators and congressmen.
Gifted in poetry, Wilson is scouted by FBI Agent Sam Murach
(Alec Baldwin), who urges him to squeal on his professor, Dr.
Fredericks (Michael Gambon), whose American-German
cultural group is allegedly a front for the Nazis in our country.

Some women find men of few words fascinating, which explains
Wilson's charm. A deaf woman, Laura (Tammy Blanchard) and
a "fast" one, Clover (Angelina Jolie), take up his little free time.
Wilson marries the latter after allegedly making her pregnant.
He leaves for London for spy work, his son, Edward Jr. (Eddie
Redmayne) grows up, a couple of Russians enter Wilson's life,
including a KGB "friend" and one imposter. A few
assassinations–far too few–take place to put some life into this
story, a tale that's baffling enough to warrant a second, maybe a
third viewing for those willing to bear the punishment.

Rated R. 167 minutes 2006 by Harvey Karten
harveycritic@cs.com Member: NY Film Critics Online