has the makings of something greater, but it's too under-stated and secretive to really let a viewer in

Rating: 7/10 (27 December 2006)

I really wanted to love the Good Shepherd, but maybe like the main character of Edward Wilson it's a hard one to love even if one can admire/respect it in some ways. It's a film cluttered by being both too long and too short, where the pace feels plodding at times and with some unnecessary beats, and at the same time not developing quite enough on the points that could be more interesting. It's one of those films about a government agency (in this case it's inception) that I ended up liking more for what good things I saw than for the overall whole bang of the picture. I do have to give credit where it's due, however. Matt Damon, on a roll it seems after Syriana and the Departed, is at his most under-stated (and rightfully so, probably taking cues from Robert De Niro, a man who has under-stated sometimes as his bread & butter) in the role of Wilson, a man who sacrifices his own sense of truth for the honor of protecting the country, even if it means putting his own family into complete doubt about his character.
Psychologically I was always in tune with what was going on, and like last year's Munich there's a good sense of demystification that goes on with how an organization is run/starts up. And De Niro has assembled such a top-notch cast it's hard to complain on that front (with great character actors like John Tuturro, Michael Gambon, Alec Baldwin, Billy Crudup, William Hurt, Joe Pesci). What ended up tugging me away from seeing this as a better film was the storytelling, or the sort of pull from really feeling connected with the material. Things diverge around in sub-plots, and sometimes it's gripping (like the torture scene with the Russian where LSD is used to try and reveal his name), but sometimes not so much, as with Wilson's affair with another woman. This side of it is a little murky for me- Angelina Jolie's character has an interesting start, with her practically jumping all over him when they meet, and once they marry and have a kid she becomes the dour note of his existence, even as he loves his son. I would've liked to have seen more about her, why she decided to be with him in the first place aside from the ultra-ambiguous "you look like husband material" line. It's also saddening, on the character-actor front, to see Joe Pesci (who hasn't acted in 8 years) in such a thankless part; I thought he would be there for more scenes, but it seemed like De Niro added him in as an afterthought.
What is compelling, however, does show De Niro as a very smart director with enough class to not spoon-feed the audience 'things' that happen. It's got a main part to it that is worthwhile to tell, which is Wilson's connection to his son, and Wilson's connection to a Russian counterpart to his CIA operative as a Russian operative nicknamed Ulysses (there's one scene I love that involved a violin, I won't say which). A lot of what the Good Shepherd brings makes for some good talk after it ends, but more so about what didn't work then what did. It has the makings to be one of the finest epics ever made in this decade, but sometimes even someone like Damon almost becomes TOO understated in his part- bordering on wooden- in being secret to the point of inertia. In the end, the Good Shepherd gives enough to subvert the spy film specifically on choices of mood and character, but it's also confused in how it decides to spend its time getting to the story that really counts.