movie minute

Lost Shepherd: In Robert DeNiro's opus, The Good Shepherd (R), we get to see how the ultra secret Central Intelligence Agency was born and the cost of devoting one's life to it. After the Office of Strategic Services went defunct, the CIA, the agency dedicated to fighting the small wars as one character puts it, starts up in order to protect the nation of the USA. Edward Wilson (Matt Damon) is tapped to be in the society of the Skull & Bones and then from there is tapped to be a spy for the CIA. The movie is told in flashbacks and flashforwards and spans the decades of the 40's, 50's, and 60's. Damon's character is humorless, expressionless, and so serious it's not even funny. Even a wife (played by Angelina Jolie) and a son can't break him out of his dour attitude.

DeNiro who directed the great movies The Score and A Bronx Tale seems to be losing his touch. The movie is a yawn and pointless up until the last 50mins (it's 2hr and 40mins) and even then it only gets a heartbeat for a brief time. The cast is stellar: Michael Gambon, Robert DeNiro, Angelina Jolie, Billy Crudup, William Hurt, Alec Baldwin, Timothy Hutton, and Joe Pesci to name a few. In fact, Jolie is the only one with a pulse in this movie. She resuscitates every scene she's in. Say what you will about her lips but this woman knows how to command a scene.

The crux of the story (aside from how the CIA is born) is the fact that there was a spy in the agency (who may or may not have been Edward's son) that caused the US to botch the Bay Of Pigs invasion.

DeNiro is still a good director and he does a good job on this movie too but like the shepherd in the field, this Shepherd seems to be wandering for sheep.

Bags of popcorn (out of 5): 2.25

Possible noms

Best Supporting Actress: Angelina Jolie
Best Director
Best Picture

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