The most surprising element to The Good Shepherd is its waste of great actors. Based on the trailer, one can sense this story had a lot of potential. There were numerous award-winning actors, a piece of history untouched by Hollywood, and actor Robert De Niro's reputation. But great actors sometimes don't cross well into great directing. Director De Niro's execution of the film simply went wrong from the very beginning.

The story details the creation of the CIA through the life of Edward Wilson (Matt Damon). We follow his story, told in constant flashbacks, to explain his personal life and professional career. His initiation into Yale's secret Skull and Bones society and his romantic involvement with a deaf classmate Laura (Tammy Blanchard) in the 1940's may have been the most interesting moments in Wilson's life. Unfortunately, that era ends soon when he's obligated to marry a girl he barely knows as a result of his irresponsibility one night at a party.

Immediately following the wedding, Wilson is called to duty overseas to help the cause in Europe. From then on, he spends less time at home and most of his life building the CIA and proving to his colleagues that he is a loyal American. At many times, he is assigned to act almost like a spy for the government. But The Good Shepherd certainly cannot be categorized properly as a spy genre as it lacks both suspense and action.

So many things went wrong with this film, one could sense it was a failure from the beginning. Into the first fifteen minutes, it was difficult to understand what was going on. At first, I thought it may have been that I was a bit unfamiliar with the history of the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 - but that wasn't it. The film jumped in the middle of an event without explaining its purpose. Then it proceeded to skip around between the 1940's and 1961 - and sometimes to when Wilson was a child - again without reason, for nearly three hours! And even at the end, the film aimlessly reaches a dead-end conclusion.

Although some people may think The Good Shepherd wasn't so much a spy genre, but a story about character development. Not true. Matt Damon looks as bored in his role as Wilson as the audience was probably bored of watching Damon play his role as Wilson. The story presents Wilson as an important character, and yet it doesn't seem like he does much of anything. His character also looks the same whether he's 20 or 40 years old. Therefore, whenever a new scene flashes yet another date, pay attention otherwise you won't know what timeline you're watching.

Kristin's Grade: D
Director: Robert De Niro
Screenwriter: Eric Roth
Genre: Drama/Politics
Running Time: 160 minutes
Rated: R (for some violence, sexuality and language)

 

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