The Good Shepherd

Rating: 7/10 (19 May 2008)

When an actor with a reputation as huge as Robert De Nero steps behind the camera, you expect big things. After all this is an actor who has been constantly named as one of the greatest of his generation, second only to Al Pacino - if anyone should know how to make a powerful, hard-hitting movie, it should be De Nero.
For most of the duration of the film, "The Good Sherpherd" does not disappoint. First of all, its subject matter - the genesis and development of the CiA - is actually pretty interesting. The film tries to pass itself off as a spy thriller, but its really more of a biography of one of the most famous security organisations in the world.
There are some excellent performances in this film too, but sadly they don't seem to belong to any of the headline actors. De Nero does a good job in a small cameo which you want to have more of, as you do John Turturro in his "personal assistant" role. On the British end Michael Gambon is great as usual, and John Sessions does an brilliant job as a Russian defector, and it was a bit of a surprise to see him in a film like this. Perhaps the biggest waste here is the fact that the legendary Joe Pesci's role is laughably minuscule, yet he still completely out acts Matt Damon.
Damon isn't bad in this film, but I have an unfortunate problem in watching him with his glasses on, because I instantly think of "The Talented Mr Ripley". You also get pangs for Damon's other great spy character, Jason Bourne, but I think thats because of the mislabelling of the film as a thriller. Angleina Jolie is reduced to playing a very, very annoying character, and that annoyance factor seems to be passed on down the family line to their son, who REALLY got on my nerves for some reason.
Another problem with the film is the length of it. Sometimes a long film works and sometimes it doesn't. This was a sort of mix between the two. Most of the time you enjoy the film, yet there are occasions where you look at your watch and think "How much longer are we going to stay with this scene?" On the whole, if you know what you're letting yourself in for - subject matter, length, etc - then you should enjoy this film. Otherwise you may be very disappointed.
7/10