THE GOOD SHEPHERD tells an epic, fictionalised account of how the CIA was born. Edward Wilson, a reserved young man who graduated from Yale in the late 1930s, is recruited to help the government on covert operations.
Product Identifiers
EAN
5050582483901
eBay Product ID (ePID)
59991386
Product Key Features
Actor
Alec Baldwin, Robert De Niro, Angelina Jolie, Matt Damon, Joe Pesci, William Hurt, Michael Gambon
Film/TV Title
The Good Shepherd
Director
Robert De Niro
Language
English
Subtitle Language
Bulgarian\German\Spanish
Run Time
160 Mins
Aspect Ratio
2.40 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Release Year
2010
Format
DVD
Features
Widescreen, Closed Caption, Deleted Scenes, With Subtitles
Genre
Drama
Additional Product Features
Number of Discs
1
Certificate
15
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States of America
Hearing Impaired
English
Additional Information
With THE GOOD SHEPHERD, Robert De Niro (A BRONX TALE) makes an ambitious return to the directorÆs chair. A labour of love for Oscar-winning screenwriter Eric Roth (FORREST GUMP), the film tells an epic, fictionalised account of how the Central Intelligence Agency was born. Matt Damon plays Edward Wilson, a reserved young man who graduated from Yale in the late 1930s. His membership in the exclusive Skull and Bones society led him away from poetry and into a relationship with the federal government, who recruited him to help them on several covert operations. RothÆs script alternates between WilsonÆs gradual emergence as a genuine government operative in the early 1940s and the infamous Bay of Pigs conflict in the early 1960s. Along the way, he has a sweet romance with a pretty deaf girl (a sparkling Tammy Blanchard) and ends up marrying the woman he makes pregnant (Angelina Jolie) out of a strong sense of duty. Throughout the film, the emergence of a mysterious tape haunts Wilson, who is determined to uncover the truth behind a leak in his secret organisation. Production designer Jeannine Claudia Oppewall (L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN) and costume designer Ann Roth (THE ENGLISH PATIENT, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY) faithfully recreate these earlier periods in American history, while the imagery of Oscar-winning cinematographer Robert Richardson (J.F.K., THE AVIATOR) casts a warm, stately glow upon De NiroÆs assembled cast of luminaries (including Alec Baldwin, Michael Gambon, William Hurt, Billy Crudup, and Joe Pesci). The result is a production that recalls Francis Ford CoppolaÆs THE CONVERSATION and Steven SpielbergÆs MUNICH.
Reviews
The Observer - Intelligent and engrossing...better than any of the feature film versions of John Le Carre's novels
What is it with Matt Damon and his interest in the secret services? This is another in the genre. It is a hard film and difficult to get into. It takes place over a 30-40 year period, and starts with Damon as middle-aged pillar of the CIA community. Through flash backs the plot eventually unravels (ostensibly the plot opens with him trying to discover who and what is behind a bedroom liaison that proves to involve his own son). What also evolves is the discovery of the Damon character’s own psychological formation, and his struggle and adoption with truth, secrecy, patriotism, morality, love, sex; his desire to protect and promote his country which eventually collides with the instinct to protect and promote his genetic heritage in the form of his son.
The film is difficult, hard to watch, long and ultimately rewarding. Damon is too young for the character he plays. Yet why let that stop him, and it doesn't?
Oh of course there are a host of other stars and good performances in the film, but ultimately it is Damon's. If you are, as I am, fascinated by the Damon oeuvres then this is an absolute must.Read full review