Wait for the DVD

Rating: 5/10 (23 December 2006)

I went to this film wanting to like it. The story seemed interesting and the cast had many of my favorite actors. The film is advertised as a story about the beginnings of th CIA. Well its not really, it's a hodge podge story of one man's life within the CIA. I am not a fan of movies that jump back and forth in time to tell a story. In some cases it can work but it is only a device and should be used sparingly. The Good Shepherd does this many times. The movie has a few glaring errors in it which make little sense. Overall the cinematography was good and there were some good scenes along with a few good lines but this film telegraphs where its going a lot. The movie is a little long at almost 3 hours. About 45 more minutes on the editing room floor would have improved the pace and not really lost any of the story. It's just my opinion but I think your movie dollar would be better spent renting this for $3 than paying $20 for a theatrical showing. 5/10