The Good Shepherd

As I said in my last post, I saw the movie ‘The Good Shepherd’ while visiting a friend in Ghent. I also explained the circumstances in which I saw the movie (it was very late and me and my friends were very tired). Bear that in mind while reading this review. It might have impacted my judgement.

‘The Good Shepherd’ is basically a movie about the early years of the CIA and its predecessor, the OSS (Office of Strategic Services). The main character is Edward Wilson, played by Matt Damon. Just before graduating Yale, he marries Margaret (played by Angelina Jolie) and a week after the marriage he joins the OSS and is off to London (World War 2 is going on).

Six years later, he returns to the US, to his wife Margaret and his son, Edward Jr. The OSS is over, but the CIA is created to deal with the threat of the Soviets. Cold War paranoia is everywhere, and we see how it affects Wilson in his job and in his personal life.

This all sounds like enough material for an interesting movie. Well, it certainly is enough material. The movie lasts 167 minutes, which is way too long for a movie that is slowly paced and short on action. Short on action is a bit of an understatement. There isn’t any real action at all. The movie is mostly character driven, and that takes me to another disappointing issue in this movie. As a viewer, I didn’t really care for the characters. First of all, Edward Wilson is boring, simply boring, and hasn’t got any humour at all. Secondly, his wife, Margaret, is totally unbelievable. Even though she is treated very badly by her husband, she somehow still supports him. Whoever thought up casting Angelina Jolie should really start reading gossip magazines. Jolie is just unbelievable in this role. Thankfully, the supporting characters are better, but as the movie focuses on Damon’s and Jolie’s characters, that doesn’t help.

So, is everything about this movie horrible? No, it isn’t. For one, the setting is very accurate. The movie is set decades ago, and one really gets the impression that that is the case due to the locations, sets, costumes, and stuff like that. That is a big pro. Secondly, despite the boringness of the story, it does give some interesting inside in the history of the American intelligence organisations.

So, all in all, it isn’t completely dreadful. But one of the most important things of a movie, of course, is its ability to entertain. And that is something that is lacking in this flick. I therefore award 2.5 out of 5 stars to this movie. I really prefer intelligence movies with Vodka-Martinis and Aston Martins.

On a totally off-topic note, today would have been the 86th birthday of my Grandmother. That makes this a very special day for me, and that is why I felt that I should mention it here. By coincidence, the title of this blog post is very fitting for her, as she really was the good shepherd of that particular side of my family.