PLOT: A history of the CIA from 1939 through the Bay of Pigs incident in 1961 is told through the events of one man's espionage career. Stellar cast, plodding storytelling.
Those interested in the distinguishing American characteristics of paranoia and insularity will want to see The Good Shepherd, a film about how the CIA came to be.
Too bad the excellent cast cannot entirely compensate for the inept storytelling.
The Good Shepherd opens in theatres today.
It traces the history of the CIA through events in the life of one man, Edward Wilson (Matt Damon). The story skips back and forth in time between 1939, when Wilson is a student at Yale, and 1961, when he is involved in the Bay of Pigs incident.
At Yale, Wilson joins the Skull and Bones Society, a secretive brotherhood with such alumni as George Bush (both of them), John Kerry and various other politicians, legal eagles and captains of industry. When WWII breaks out, our man Wilson gets involved with the Office of Strategic Services, which was the CIA before it became the CIA. If you follow.
Wilson has been recruited because he is a patriot, a gentleman born to do the right thing and someone who loves his country.
But The Good Shepherd shows how Wilson's idealism is slowly transformed by his work in intelligence and counter-intelligence into paranoia. It's spy vs. spy, with intrigue, violence and betrayal on every side.
In the end, guarding his flock and defending democracy cost our shepherd dearly.
His work takes a toll on his marriage, family and every other aspect of his life.
The Good Shepherd also stars Angelina Jolie as Wilson's wife, Alec Baldwin as an FBI agent, Robert DeNiro as General Sullivan, Billy Crudup as a Philby-ish character and Michael Gambon, William Hurt, John Turturro, et al, as various influential people in Wilson's life.
The performances are great. De Niro, who directed the film, is a legendary stickler for detail and his film is a wonder for its recreation of the minutiae of everyday life in the past. For all that, however, the movie is sunk by the dead weight of plot, with incident after incident piled on and nothing much to guide (or interest) a viewer.
Throw in the story's movement back and forth in time, and you're left with a tale that only espionage cognoscenti could love.
It's too long, it's confusing, and it's hard to care about anyone's fate -- because all that effort has been spent on what they did, not who they are.
BOTTOM LINE: Call this one a noble failure. Everything in the movie is based on real events and real people, but even the most attentive viewer will find the film an exercise in frustration.
(This film is rated 14A)
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