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The Good Shepherd

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Ace, Dec 26, 2006.

  1. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    If this movies has been fully covered in other threads, I apologize. Saw it yesterday and thought it was very good.

    Terrific cast. And one of those movies that has lots of things to digest.

    I thought DeNiro viciously skewered the privileged WASPs that run the CIA (and the rest of the government). It was merciless.

    And being a semi-privileged WASP, I loved every minute of it.
     
  2. Armchair_QB

    Armchair_QB Well-Known Member

    Saw it. Loved it.
     
  3. As a connoisseur of American lunatics, I ask, is Damon's character supposed to be James Jesus Angleton or not.
     
  4. MC Sports Guy

    MC Sports Guy Member

    I was really jacked to see this movie, but then the lukewarm reviews made me hesitant. I'll have to go see it, but am slightly less excited than before. Seems like most negative reviews bash the film's length, but I don't mind long movies. Seems like a movie dealing with the beginnings of the CIA should have a little length to it, no?
     
  5. Armchair_QB

    Armchair_QB Well-Known Member

    Yep.

    My question is, was this movie adapted from a novel or just loosely based on the history of the CIA?
     
  6. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    To me, the movie isn't really about the CIA. It's about a small group of people who think they know what is best for everyone and simply can't be trusted. And can't trust each other.
     
  7. Armchair_QB

    Armchair_QB Well-Known Member

    And that small group of people (the OSS) laid the groundwork for what is the CIA today.
     
  8. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Yeah. I am just saying that the movie really examines the people who started all this. If you went to the cinema expecting to see a story about the start of the CIA with lots of spy stuff and agents in the field, you will be disappointed.
     
  9. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

     
  10. novelist_wannabe

    novelist_wannabe Well-Known Member

    Possible spoiler alert ...






    I thought the movie was fascinating, particularly the ongoing face-to-face exchanges between Wilson and the KGB agent. It just never occurred to me that rival spies had that much personal interaction with one another. The two of them sitting in the balcony at Wilson's son's choral concert was pretty surreal. And I loved the line near the end where he tells the other Soviet guy, "I wanted to hear you play the violin because I wanted to hear something from you that was true." I think most of us on here can identify with that sentiment.
     
  11. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    I thought it was interesting that the "enemy" spies all seemed to be more likeable and down-to-earth than the good guys.
     
  12. Another spoiler alert ....



    I saw this partly as a message that as truly good and idealistic as the U.S. of A. had been through its history, something happened during or just after World War II that changed us. We became more Machiavellian, hard-driven and less true to our ideals. True or not (it's all a bit more complex) it was an interesting statement, if I was reading it right.

    And Ace, I noticed that too. You're seeing more and more sympathetic portrayal of the Soviets as we get further away from the Cold War. The same thing happened after World War II with the Germans.
     
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