Review

Robert De Niro directs Matt Damon playing a top spy named Edward Wilson in The Good Shepherd, loosely based on the character of real life James Angleton, one of the founding officers of American counterintelligence that would become the CIA. Stretching to almost three hours, the film attempts to depict the shaping of the shadowy world of political intrigue and military secrets in epic proportions. It mostly succeeds, thanks to the subtly complex screenplay by Eric Roth (The Insider, Munich). This is about the consequences of covert activities, though no actual spying is revealed, except for one particular bugging operation that also contains crucial, emotional elements of the main characters. Wilson is a most introverted man, showing barely a glimmer of human warmth throughout the picture, having surrendered his life to his country. And yet, and this is to Damon’s credit, reveals the effects of actions in his environment to his inner self in the most restrained way imaginable on-screen.

We follow young Wilson in his Yale years when he forges lifelong ties to other operatives when he becomes a member of the ultra secret Skull and Bones society. One romantic involvement is studied with a young, deaf girl until Wilson is introduced to Margaret (Angelina Jolie) who he will be forced to marry. Jolie, acting in a marginally supporting role, at least is able to provide a realistic portrait of an abandoned wife, left to her own devices with her son in tow. As he rises to the inner sanctum of the intelligence community, the film flashes backward, showing his progress through the years, and forward, to the culminating Bay of Pigs event.

Other acting credits should also go to William Hurt, John Turturro, Alec Baldwin, Michael Gambon, and a brief glimpse of Joe Pesci. They all add textured performances to this disquieting and thought-provoking tale. Slightly awkward at times, when balancing broad commentary with minute details of covert life, the film is still able to strike a serious and sustained tone that stays with the viewer.

 -- Max Brinck