Rated R for some violence, sexuality and language.
Directed by Robert De Niro (A Bronx Tale)
Starring Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, and Robert De Niro
Solid cast? Yes. Great cinematography? Yes. BORING AS CAN BE? YES!
In 1939 Edward Wilson (Matt Damon) is a young man with a bright future. Excelling in Yale, he is invited to join the powerful secret society, “Skull and Bones.” There he meets Sam Murach (Alex Baldwin), a mysterious FBI agent who asks Wilson to investigate charges that his poetry professor is a Nazi sympathizer working with the German government. Later at a Skull and Bones retreat he meets Clover Russell (Angelina Jolie), the sister of one of his classmates and the daughter of a powerful politician. Their one-night stand leaves Clover pregnant, and Wilson must leave the woman he loves, Laura (Tammy Blanchard), to wed Clover and raise their child. On their wedding day, Wilson accepts a position with the Office of Strategic Services, a military intelligence organization organized by Bill Sullivan (Robert De Niro). As the OSS evolves into the Central Intelligence Agency, Edward spends the rest of his life buried in the work, at the expense of his family.
TODD’S WORD: The Good Shepherd has a solid story, but the agonizingly slow pace and lack of excitement left me disappointed.
JONATHAN’S WORD: I couldn’t agree more. I really had high expectations for this movie when I saw the cast and the director. But WOW! Talk about your sleeping pills!
TODD’S WORD: That’s what I thought: great cast, great director, spies, and the birth of the CIA this has to one of the best movies of 2006. So three hours later, I was still trying to figure out what went wrong. I love “smart movies” with flashbacks and warped timelines, but this film is disconnected and left me wishing for just a little more excitement in the story.
JONATHAN’S WORD: How about ANYTHING exciting. I was sitting there in my seat thinking, “Throw me a bone here! Anything! Wake me up!”
TODD’S WORD: I will say the acting is excellent. Matt Damon, Robert De Niro and John Turturro all give powerful performances and Angelina Jolie surprised me as she transforms from a vibrant, beautiful, young woman into a depressed, abandoned, alcoholic housewife.
JONATHAN’S WORD: ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
TODD’S WORD: Touché. In the end, the movie is too empty, too long, and too boring.
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
It has an R-rating so, if you do decide to watch it, wait for the kids to go to bed.
Side Note:
As said above, we don’t recommend your kids see this film. But on the occasion that they actually have already seen it, you may want to dialogue about the film with them. These questions below may be a help to you.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
- What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
- How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
- How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
