Synopsis
Edward Wilson, the only witness to his father's suicide and member of the Skull and Bones Society while a student at Yale, is a morally upright young man who values honor and discretion, qualities that help him to be recruited for a career in the newly founded OSS. His dedication to his work does not come without a price though, leading him to sacrifice his ideals and eventually his family.
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Cast
- Matt DamonEdward Bell Wilson
- Angelina JolieMargaret Ann Russell
- Alec BaldwinSam Murach
- Tammy BlanchardLaura
- Billy CrudupArch Cummings
- Robert De NiroBill Sullivan
- Keir DulleaSenator John Russell, Sr.
- Michael GambonDr. Fredericks
- Martina GedeckHanna Schiller
- William HurtPhilip Allen
- 100
The New Yorker
One of the most impressive movies ever made about espionage. - 88
ReelViews
De Niro pulls the viewer into the world he has created and holds him there, sometimes spellbound, until the story is over and the end credits roll. - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
While a bit unwieldy at nearly three hours and at times slow going, the film is absolutely fascinating for anyone who shares De Niro's passions. - 80
Time
Damon is terrific in the role--all-knowing, never overtly expressing a feeling. Indeed, so is everyone else in this intricate, understated but ultimately devastating account of how secrets, when they are left to fester, can become an illness, dangerous to those who keep them, more so to nations that base their policies on them. - 75
Entertainment Weekly
Here, he's (Damon) the ultimate enigma machine, a man willing to erase himself for his country. Does that make him a hero? The Good Shepherd is too closemouthed to let on. - 70
Newsweek
Still, even if the movie's vast reach exceeds its grasp, it's a spellbinding history lesson. The Good Shepherd demands you watch it like a spy: alert, paranoid, never knowing whom you can trust, or who will stab you in the back. - 63
Rolling Stone
Shepherd wants to say something profound about the effect of a deceitful government on human values. But it's tough to slog through a movie that has no pulse. - 60
The New York Times
The most interesting thing about The Good Shepherd is how hard the filmmakers work not only to demystify the agency, but also to strip it of its allure, its heat.