The Good Shepherd

The Good Shepherd tells the story of the early days of the CIA through the eyes of a young man who enters the intelligence game and rises to a position of power at the agency's inception. But interesting subject matter, an all-star cast, and Robert De Niro behind the camera can't quite rescue it from mediocrity.

There are some good moments as far as the agency goes. My favorite, from Robert De Niro's character as they created the CIA, "I see this as America's eyes and ears. I don't want it to become its heart and soul." But all the efforts to bring in those nice little scenes about the CIA seem tacked on, never really fitting with the narrative.

Matt Damon gives a good performance in a difficult role. By his nature, Edward Wilson is serious, closely guarded, secretive, which doesn't give an actor much to work with. That's not completely unfamiliar territory for Damon, who previously played it close to the vest in Rounders, but The Good Shepherd definitely takes it to another level. The supporting players, Angelina Jolie, Alec Baldwin De Niro, William Hurt, Joe Pesci, and others, all perform admirably as well.

But what really drags the movie down is its length. Three hours is a long time to hold your interest in a Lord of the Rings type epic, but to spend almost as much time for a film with considerably less action and considerably more moments of moody silence is asking a lot for an audience. Trimming it down to a little over two hours, and eliminating some of the tangential elements could've resulted in a pretty good movie, but instead we're left with some nice moments and nice performances, but as a whole, nothing of note.