A little long but worth it

Rating: 6/10 (17 December 2006)

The Good Shephard starts out a little slow and clocks in a little long (over 2 ½ hours) but it's a story that sooner or later hooks you.
Much hyped for the fact that Robert De Niro is directing it, The Good Shephard is marketed as a film that takes the viewer through the origin and the first 20 years of the CIA. The movie does act as a historical retrospect, but unlike recent docudramas like Bobby or Catch a Fire, the film is smart in not making it more about the journey of a character than a history lesson. It's far more based on a character's journey.
At the story's center, Matt Damon plays Edward Wilson, who is recruited to the CIA from a secret Ivy League society. He's stoic, cold, and enigmatic and the strength of the movie is that the question of why he does what he does is never fully answered. It's only hinted at and revealed in the film's last act as the plot branches out towards Wilson's relationships with his estranged wife (Jolie), son (Redmayne), and the love that never was (Blanchard).
The film boasts an all-star cast. Some of them like Joe Pesci were probably brought into the project solely because of their connections to De Niro, but the movie does feature strong performances from everyone, particularly Jolie, Blanchard. Matt Damon does a great restrained performance although it stretches the credibility of the part that he ages 20 years and his son grows up and he still looks like he's under 30.
The film's big production values; its noirish score and carefully constructed mise-en-scenes; make a boastful statement that the film is about something big and it's well deserved.