At the start of the 21st century, Robert De Niro enjoyed a reputation as one of the most esteemed Hollywood actors. He has used some of his stardom to pursue a career as a producer, and The Good Shepherd, a 2006 period spy epic, was meant to be his life's project. De Niro had been inspired by the rich experiences he had with some of the world's best filmmakers, and The Godfather—one of the greatest films of all time—was meant to serve as a model. Many critics noticed quite a few similarities between Coppola's epic film that demystified the Italian-American mafia and De Niro's film, which aimed to do something similar with the world's most famous, but also most controversial, intelligence agency.
The plot begins in the spring of 1961, shortly after the CIA suffered a major fiasco at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba. Its high-ranking official, Edward Wilson (played by Matt Damon), must face the fact that this was the result of betrayal, i.e., that Castro received information about the invasion from a Soviet "mole" within CIA ranks. The plot shifts back several decades to 1939, when the young Wilson, as a student at Yale University, joins the secret society "Skull and Bones," whose members are part of the American social elite and which will later serve as a breeding ground for CIA personnel. The young Wilson learns the spy trade from the British during World War II, and when the Cold War begins, he becomes one of the most effective fighters against the Soviets. However, his obsession with his work increasingly distances him from his wife, Margaret (played by Angelina Jolie), and later from his son, Edward Jr. (played by Eddie Redmayne), who tries to follow in his footsteps.
Robert De Niro tried to make this film for nine years and envisioned Coppola himself as the ideal person behind the camera. However, Coppola and, subsequently, several other respected directors withdrew from filming, ultimately forcing De Niro himself to tackle the job. In the end, it cannot be said that the esteemed Hollywood actor did a bad job—a solid cast was chosen, attention was paid to historical and other details, and The Good Shepherd looks just like a film with Godfather ambitions.
On the other hand, it is quite understandable why Coppola decided to miss the opportunity to make another Godfather. This film truly resembles The Godfather, but more like The Godfather Part III, the final part of the trilogy and one of the biggest disappointments in the career of the great master. The reason lies primarily in the script, which attempted to cram a little too many various anecdotes and allusions to the most famous and (in)famous episodes of the beginnings of the Cold War into the plot. As a result, very little attention was paid to the characters, so Wilson—whose character is based on the brilliant but controversial intelligence officer James Jesus Angleton—appears as an emotionally cold person with whom no one can identify, and for whose fate most viewers could not properly care. Even sadder is the case with Wilson's family characters, who look like caricatures, and Angelina Jolie, completely wasted in the stereotypical role of the hysterical neglected wife, was of no great help here.
What is most entertaining in the film is identifying which fictional character or event corresponds to real characters and events. However, for this to happen, the viewer needs to be a little more knowledgeable about the history of Cold War espionage. This is not the case for most of the audience, for whom De Niro's film will be slow and confusing; i.e., after its end, they will feel that they have wasted two and a half hours of their time.
However, it could be said that the main problem with this film is that it was made at least a decade too late. The corruption and incompetence of the CIA came into too much public focus in the years following 9/11, so The Good Shepherd didn't tell the audience anything they hadn't already known in one way or another.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
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