A Complete Snoozer of a Movie

Rating: 4/10 (31 December 2006)

Who knew the story of the early days of the CIA was such a boring one? Or at least, it is in the hands of Robert DeNiro, who directed this film that I sincerely wanted to like and instead was utterly bored to death by.
And please understand me -- I don't use the word "boring" lightly. I don't like it when other people use it, and I think it's usually too easy and lazy to do so. But in some cases, it just simply fits, and this is one of them.
"The Good Shepherd" is boring because the pacing is as monotone as the color scheme (which is all browns and grays by the way). It's boring because the script is a muddled mess and leaves one unable to make sense of anything going on. It's boring because it's peopled with characters who aren't in the least compelling. By the time the movie was reaching its conclusion (a long, LONG nearly 3 hours after I took my seat), it was coming at me as a series of disconnected scenes with no relation to one another, and I couldn't have cared less how it ended.
Matt Damon plays Edward Wilson, an early CIA operative who dedicates his life to the service and sees his personal life go to hell for his efforts. There's nothing necessarily wrong with Damon's performance -- I believe he plays the character exactly as called for by the script and director. But he's fighting a losing battle, for what makes Wilson such a perfect CIA agent -- his elusiveness, his opacity, his withdrawnness -- are the same characteristics that make him such a blank slate of a main character. With this vacuum at the movie's center, there's simply no chance for it to ever come alive.
"The Good Shepherd" is an admirable effort, I guess. You can tell that DeNiro has a passion for the story he's telling. But it's been a long time since I've been so disengaged during a film. The movie is all whispers, shadowy silhouettes lurking in doorways, portentous looks; one character gets killed, another is thrown out of a plane; there's domestic drama, sex and drunk scenes -- and nothing ever heats up to more than a low simmer.
Billy Crudup and Michael Gambon deliver the film's best performances; unfortunately, they also have two of the smallest roles. Angelina Jolie, looking incredibly too perfect as Wilson's long-suffering wife, is utterly wasted in a clichéd role, in which she pops up every fifteen minutes or so to yell shrilly at her husband. Other actors include William Hurt, Alec Baldwin and DeNiro himself, none of whom registers in the least.
Pass this one by.
Grade: D+