"Shepherd" review
I respect the years of work, immense care and herculean effort that went into the making of Robert De Niro and Eric Roth's The Good Shepherd, and I admire the unity of tone and mood that the film provides. In no way is it muddled or slapdash. But it's not very stimulating. I think it's fair to use the world "lulling." I don't want to use the word "dull" because it's always somewhat interesting, and sometimes mildly absorbing. But "somewhat interesting" and $1.75 will get you a bus ticket.
It's a film with a vision, all right, and made by an above-average director who's up to something serious and solemn. (You can tell DeNiro isn't kidding around because of the length, which Universal should have kept at three hours...why not? It's going to lower people's eyelids anyway.) But I didn't believe any of it. I couldn't believe that being a spook in the late '40s, '50s and early '60s was this confining, this spirit-deflating. Like any work-related obsession, it had to be exciting on this and that level, no? The excitement, the perversity, the intrigue, the killings? But there's no particular current in what we're shown. The story just "happens", and about a half-hour in I started saying to myself, "Uh-oh..."
The Good Shepherd isn't just a lament/indictment of the hermetic, ingrown culture of the CIA -- it's also a lament/indictment of WASP culture, which everyone knows is about exclusion, efficiency, ownership, clubbiness, Rice Krispies and half- hearted sex. It's basically about WASP zombies in Burberry trenchcoats and dull haircuts and horn-rimmed glasses, and how if you're a woman you'll never want to marry one. (Unless you're a WASP woman and you're used to the tedium.)
The parallels between The Good Shepherd and The Godfather, Part II are obvious...but it only makes Francis Coppola's film look better. When Joe Pesci shows up...eureka! An Italian mafia guy with a little soul, a little attitude...a break from the WASPs! Viewers are subjected to way too many Skull & Bones ceremonies and get-togethers in this thing, I know that. And what's with Damon singing in drag in the Yale production of H.M.S. Pinafore and then, later on, Bill Hurt and those other Skull & Bones guys doing a rendition fo "There Ain't Nothing Like a Dame" in grass skirts?
Why is it that the spooks in the John Le Carre novels -- based on reality, as Le Carre was in British intelligence -- are so much quirkier and more flavorful and wittier than their American cousins? I loved John Irvin's six-hour Tinker, Tailor, Solder Spy and the other one, Smiley's People, for their absorbing and very detailed stories and the fact that they were truly never dull.
I'm sorry, but as thorough and meticulous as it is in just about every department, The Good Shepherd is not very absorbing to sit through. Strange that a shortfall of this proportion has been written by the great Eric Roth (The Insider, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Forrest Gump, Ali). I think it's the director's fault. I mean, it always is.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on December 10, 2006 at 5:15 PM
comment #1
Mgmax, le Corbeau
says ...
Haven't seen it but... if he wanted to make a movie about repressed midcentury WASPs, why didn't he just film a John O'Hara book or something? There's some anthropological interest in the subject-- James Ivory's Mr. and Mrs. Bridge is a near-great movie on the topic-- but to Jeffrey's point, it belongs in a movie about the insurance business, or plastics, or something, not one about fighting Commies.
Posted by Mgmax, le Corbeau
at December 10, 2006 6:06 PM
comment #2
James
says ...
Has anyone seen A Bronx Tale, Deniro's other directorial outing? All I remember about it from seeing it over 10 years ago when it first came out, was that it was truly awful--pacing, camera-work, dramatic tension, realism... all sorts of basic director stuff were lacking big time. I remember feeling sorry for Deniro for being so far out of his element.
Posted by James
at December 10, 2006 6:52 PM
comment #3
bipedalist
says ...
I have a feeling that what makes De Niro such a good actor - his obsessive/compulsive attention to detail and his methodical approach is also what makes him a not so great director. But hey, one out of two ain't bad.
Posted by bipedalist
at December 10, 2006 6:57 PM
comment #4
Mr. Gittes
says ...
Jeff, how do you KNOW it is? Thanks.
Posted by Mr. Gittes
at December 10, 2006 7:09 PM
comment #5
NYCritic
says ...
I know I'm in the minority, but I've seen the film and admire it greatly. It's essentially about repression and guilt -- something that even a lapsed Catholic like DeNiro would know something about.
The screenplay is very intelligent and expects the audience to pay attention -- something that more and more viewers and critics seem less inclined to do. I don't want stuff spoonfed to me. I like to be engaged by the story.
Yes, it is too long and there are a few casting problems but overall it's a very fine movie and anyone who has any interest in the history of espionage and the CIA should find it fascinating.
Thought Lee Pace was wonderfully oily in his part - he's really turning into an actor to watch. Damon is quite good -- especially how he shows the character aging, using his body instead of relying on fake looking makeup.
Posted by NYCritic
at December 10, 2006 9:12 PM
comment #6
NYCritic
says ...
I know I'm in the minority, but I've seen the film and admire it greatly. It's essentially about repression and guilt -- something that even a lapsed Catholic like DeNiro would know something about.
The screenplay is very intelligent and expects the audience to pay attention -- something that more and more viewers and critics seem less inclined to do. I don't want stuff spoonfed to me. I like to be engaged by the story.
Yes, it is too long and there are a few casting problems but overall it's a very fine movie and anyone who has any interest in the history of espionage and the CIA should find it fascinating.
Thought Lee Pace was wonderfully oily in his part - he's really turning into an actor to watch. Damon is quite good -- especially how he shows the character aging, using his body instead of relying on fake looking makeup.
Posted by NYCritic
at December 10, 2006 9:12 PM
comment #7
Mr. Muckle
says ...
Gotta agree with you on Tinker Tailor and Smiley's People. IMO, some of the best films ever made, even though done for TV. They give you credit for having the intelligence and patience for waiting out the story . . . only hints and elliptical references given for hours and hours, until it all comes together at the end in a wonderful swirl of revelation. And the acting! To die for.
Posted by Mr. Muckle
at December 10, 2006 9:39 PM
comment #8
fnt
says ...
I'm sure DeNiro didn't help much, but you could tell what this would be from the script. Roth is a great writer, but this was not his best work.
Posted by fnt
at December 11, 2006 12:48 AM
comment #9
hatchetface
says ...
James: It ain't great either, but A BRONX TALE is not "awful".
Posted by hatchetface
at December 11, 2006 10:07 AM
comment #10
JeanneValJean
says ...
I think Jeff has a point, regarding the incredible atmosphere and character development in Tinker/Tailor and Smiley's People. Outstanding work, all round. They both had an astonishing advantage as their base - the books. I'd like to remind him, also, of a taut thriller done by the BBC "Philby, Burgess and McLean," the moles in British Intelligence in the 1950s. I don't know if it's always the director's fault, I do think the writer must share a bit of the blame, I still want to see the film, though.
It doesn't beg the question - a film about the beginning of the CIA ought to have had texture, tension, layers, and a few squirrely characters - meaning the overly-enthusiastic individuals like G. Gordon Liddy who are attracted to such endeavors. WASP zombies - well, somehow the Brits do it better. Wonder why.
Posted by JeanneValJean
at December 11, 2006 10:36 AM
comment #11
T. S. Idiot
says ...
To paraphrase Woody Allen, halfhearted sex is better than no sex at all.
Posted by T. S. Idiot
at December 11, 2006 11:26 AM
comment #12
JeanneValJean
says ...
You've got a point, T.S.
Posted by JeanneValJean
at December 11, 2006 3:06 PM
comment #13
MBT
says ...
New arrival tiffany jewelry is on online shopping. Choose the latest style of 2010 tiffany silver jewelry here. At the same time, to buy 2010 fashionable christian louboutin make you become fashion frontier; ed hardy clothing on line store Uniquecool.uk.com provide Ed hardy clothing, free worldwide shipping and 50-75% discount Ed hardy is your great choice for cheap Ed hardy ; cartier jewelry is one of most famous luxury jewelry in the world. shinyawl.com offer cartier jewelry 50-70% discount, free shipping can help get cartier jewellery more easy; Purchase links of london jewellery on our site is a good choice for your luxury links London life , cheap links of London like links of London chrams and Links of London bracelets is waiting for you ; Looking for nfl jerseys online? Put the order on our site for NFL team jerseys if you are a real NFL fans. Have a nice day!
Posted by MBT
at June 30, 2010 9:06 PM
comment #14
wulitou84
says ...
cheap Ralph Lauren In case you have a very rulers criminal background investigation, measurement through a large part LV to the upcoming from both end, the leadership plus the position of the underlying part, always is very close up, if different. christian louboutin shoes leather belt and the actual canvas, deerskin leather son on the wall and the photographs, to decide whether to own leather, began to diminishes out. If not, the item disappear. A key point, you might miss viewing, a polo ralph lauren outlet and also LV Louis vuitton clutches wallet is with many similar car needle connection exactly the same amount of a sewing. cheap christian louboutin. Such as, if you include the processing or strap suture needle quantity, rely on both sides from your bag from the exact same except the patch, both sides on the needle. If a side has four needle will be the probability that the other ralph lauren polo shirtsparty will have four needles. Or, it could be a is false. Combined with the needle sewing general fantastic, so, even you should get a seam uneven, it is not a real idea.
Posted by wulitou84
at October 18, 2011 8:09 AM