A historical car wreck

Rating: 4/10 (8 December 2008)

The bay of Pigs Invasion is about to occur and we find ourselves following a veteran CIA agent named Edward Wilson (Matt Damon). As the invasion falls apart Edward finds himself in the midst of an investigation to discover why the plan failed. As he unravels a mystery surrounding a strange set of photos and a tape with potential clues we get glimpses into his past and the creation of the CIA during the Cold War.
Thus goes the star packed film directed by Robert De Niro who also has a role in the film as General Bill Sullivan. Other stars include Alec Baldwin, Angelina Jolie, William Hurt, a brief spot by Joe Pesci and an amazing and underused performance by Pushing Daisies star Lee Pace. The film was written by Eric Roth who it is clear cared little for anything historical in the film, but I will get to that later.
As for the actors they did a good job with the exception of Matt Damon. Matt Damon is a hit and miss actor in my mind playing stupid rolls and then amazing ones. In this film he is easy to shrug off in a situation that demands a standout performance. I think the problem is that while Damon is a good actor he is not good at changing who he is for a part. Actors like Johny Depp and Russell Crowe can completely disappear in a part where Damon can not. Many times I found my self watching Matt Damon act not a guy named Edward. This was very distracting, especially given the slow nature of the film and character.
Other characters were well acted but suffered from shallow writing. Edwards's wife Clover (Jolie) is never given enough time to show her struggles beyond being easy to get in the sack. Edwards's son Edward Jr. (Eddie Redmayne) is supposed to be the major tragedy in the film but is so poorly developed his crisis is useless.
De Niro is a very good actor but as a director he needs some practice. He allowed so many slow and drawn out moments that led to no where for the characters or plot. The quiet nature of Edward and the poor ability of Damon to fit the character made these moments even longer and more painful then helpful.
While these things were all flaws the one that bugged me the most was the gross historical errors in the film. While historical films need some freedom to tell a story a direct change in the historical facts is a disgusting irresponsible act on the part of the movie makers.
The entire film balances on the concept that the bay of Pigs failed because of a leak in the CIA and its general negligence as an agency to control it's information. This is horribly inaccurate and denies the real problems with the Bay of Pigs. Any quick study tells us that there was no leak and this makes the entire story in this film pointless and useless as a commentary on the subject matter.