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Edward Wilson (Matt Damon) believes in America and will sacrifice everything he loves to protect it. But as one of the covert founders of the CIA, Edward’s youthful idealism is slowly eroded by his growing suspicion of the people around him. Everybody has secrets… but will Edward’s destroy him? With an all-star cast including Alec Baldwin, Billy Crudup, William Hurt, Angelina Jolie, Timothy Hutton and John Turturro, it’s a fascinating story about one man’s survival through a life that both opens the world to him and simultaneously closes the walls in around him.

Directed by Robert De Niro with screenplay by Eric Roth (Munich), The Good Shepherd is based partly upon the story CIA founder, James Jesus Angleton, and presents some powerful dilemmas including some of the raciest and sexist sides of the CIA origins. The CIA discovers top secret and potentially explosive political information domestically and abroad, often through shamelessly unethical means. This data can certainly help to protect our country. But the cost of living that life with the increasing layers of secrets, disturbing revelations and betrayals that erode personal trust, can leave a soul cold. The film begs the question: is a powerful career critical to national protection worth the sacrifice of one’s personal life and emotional freedom? The film doesn’t answer that question nor can it.

Wilson starts out as an idealist who is excited to serve in the Office of Strategic Services (the predecessor of the CIA). But we see that the costs of his involvement begin to petrify his exterior and harden his heart in order to persevere. Switching back and forth in time at will and introducing many clandestine characters that unpredictably emerge complicates The Good Shepherd and demands full attention. The lives of the characters revolve around mid-20 century war history, Kennedy’s struggle with the Bay of Pigs, Nazism, counter- espionage and increasing suspicion and betrayal among once-trusted colleagues; These operatives can never escape the lives that they built.

The film has been criticized that the characters are too stiff or heartless. And though it’s undeniable that these characters must have thick skin with poker-faces in order to succeed and survive in their environment, watching a film with such reserved characters doesn’t engender a buoyant empathy as they go through the ups and downs of their journeys. The cold war can make cold people. And despite some emotionally explosive scenes, but the film’s drive requires the characters to be tightly sprung with poker faces - for over two hours.

There has been praise for this film as well as criticism. Newsweek hails it as “Spellbinding.” The New York Post has called it “a masterpiece.” And Larry King (of Larry King Live) finds that it’s the “best spy movie ever.” The immense talent behind the production of this film is second to none. Elegant photography is first class by Robert Richardson (The Aviator), the lilting music is pitch-perfect for the film by Bruce Fowler (X-Men: The Last Stand) and Marcelo Zarvos (Hollywoodland). Tariq Anwar’s (American Beauty) savvy editing produces a smooth, attentive rhythm for the material despite its length. And the talented Jeannine Claudia Oppewall (Seabiscuit) wonderfully realizes the attention to detail in the production design.
 
Despite the impressive production and effort of all involved, this film didn’t emotionally grip me. I found it interesting but distant. And some of the complex, yet relevant plot structure simply flew over my head and left me feeling a bit bewildered. But one shouldn’t expect handholding here, I humbly confess. The rest of the high–profile actors are fun to watch but it is Matt Damon who ultimately carries the show. Damon certainly isn’t the master of chameleon-like nuances, which his tightly wrung character desperately needs to connect with the audience, but he still does a good job. Serious espionage and spy films aren’t usually my favorite kinds of entertainment, but the talent behind this film and Di Niro’s sure hand at directing make this complex, serious film competent in many ways. Spy film fans and history buffs will likely love it.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film’s theatrical aspect ratio of 2.40:1 is presented in anamorphic video. The transfer is clean and pristine. Colors are richly saturated which benefits the variety of locations. Skin coloration appears spot on. Grain is extremely faint even in densely black scenes. Contrast is exceptional throughout the film, with clean, sharp whites and truly deep blacks that help to give the film a sense of depth in its many exterior scenes. Small object detail in the backgrounds is very good but could have been improved. The biggest fault with this transfer is it sometimes had the tiniest amount of softness; daylight exteriors exhibited the best clarity. Usually the black levels would beautifully blend into the widescreen bars, but occasionally they would only reach the darkest level of blue. The wide aspect ratio gives the film a grand, cinematic feel with some beautiful compositions by DOP Robert Richardson. No edge halos were present despite the many scenes of ridged, high contrast lines which impressed me. And compression problems were not an issue. This is a terrific transfer.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The disc includes a Dolby Digital 5.1 track.  The frequency range delivers full-bodied sound with deep, smooth lows and chirping, airy highs. But the mix doesn’t try to show off. Dialogue is distinct and well rendered. The music by Bruce Fowler and Marcelo Zarvos was perfectly recorded and sets the tone of each dour scene with a dignity that is exemplified by some lucid orchestration from the fronts and nice ambient bleeds from the rears. I also noted the left-rear surround channel emitting some surprisingly full-range, deep bomb sounds about an hour into the film; discreet rear-channel effects happen on occasion. The audio mix isn’t as punchy as it is suave and flowing.

A 5.1 French audio track is included as well as English, Spanish and French subtitles, but no Closed Captions.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Six deleted scenes (15:59) are tacked on and they include: John Comes Home, Edward & Sam at Train Station, Edward Confronts John, Edward asks Valentin to play violin, John Enters Embassy as Edward and John Fight, Ulysses is Trying to Tell Us Something, and Edward & Ray Pack Office. It’s understandable why these scenes didn’t drive the plot forward, but they are interesting and build upon characterizations.

Trailers include: Smokin’ Aces, a collage of Universal feature film HD- DVDs, Xbox, television DVDs, Hot Fuzz, and Children of Men.

The 167-minute film is organized into only twenty-one chapters.

Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?

There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.