Long and Boring

Rating: 5/10 (4 April 2007)

Edward Wilson (Damon) is a career CIA agent who is trying to unravel the mystery of who caused the Bay of Pigs operation in Cuba to fail. The story goes loosely into the beginnings of the CIA as well and some Russian defections.
This movie reminded me of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. That, to me, was long and boring too, but admittedly, a better told story on film. I think for viewing future spy movies we should be equipped with the Green Night Vision Glasses and one of those large hearing discs along with earphones. Too much in this movie was in staged in dark, shadowy areas; and too much of this movie was barely audible due to "well, you know, we have to talk softly so others can't hear." The Director didn't let the audience hear too much as we might endanger national security. I gave up rewinding the DVD to determine what was going on at times.
The acting was dead-pan all around except for a couple outbursts by Wilson's wife, Margaret (Jolie), and she was totally underutilized. Where is Laura Croft when you need her? This could have used some humor too.
I need to explain something. It is my understanding that the Wilson character was based on a real live CIA agent, who actually, was the way Matt Damon played him in the movie. So we can forgive the dead-pan portrayal by Matt Damon as he was doing the right thing. That doesn't forgive the rest of the cast or the director who needed to put some life into this. I mean we can't have Angelina doing an outburst too often.
You know, if truth be told, being a Good Shepherd is a long and boring job too.
Violence:Yes, Sex: Yes, dark scenes but you know what was going on. Nudity : No, too dark to see anything Language:Yes, there was some, not much