The Spy Who

The Good Shepherd (Robert De Niro, 2006) - B-

Tries to take you through two decades of CIA history as seen through the eyes of the Agency's chief of counter-intelligence from World War II through the Bay of Pigs invasion and beyond, but though the running time pushes three hours, its trek through the 40s and 50s is depressingly cursory. There's not enough detail to really engage us in any of the spy stuff, and the characters' tragically repressed personal lives can't carry the film. Maybe there's an argument that the obsession with secrecy that is The Good Shepherd's thematic core makes the relative sparseness of the narrative more appropriate, but that doesn't make it any more interesting. (This is not to say that the plot is uneventful -- it certainly isn't that -- but more that not enough information is given to make it satisfying -- maybe I don't know my history well enough?) Matt Damon is characteristically superb, and I can't say I was ever bored, but honestly this is more interesting on paper than on screen.