The Good Shepherd (2006)

The tumultuous early history of the Central Intelligence Agency is viewed through the prism of one man's life.

Director:

Robert De Niro

Writer:

Eric Roth

Stars:

Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Robert De Niro

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matt Damon	...	Edward Wilson
Angelina Jolie	...	Margaret 'Clover' Russell
Alec Baldwin	...	Sam Murach
Tammy Blanchard	...	Laura
Billy Crudup	...	Arch Cummings
Robert De Niro	...	Bill Sullivan
Keir Dullea	...	Senator John Russell, Sr.
Michael Gambon	...	Dr. Fredericks
Martina Gedeck	...	Hanna Schiller
William Hurt	...	Philip Allen
Timothy Hutton	...	Thomas Wilson
Mark Ivanir	...	Valentin Mironov #2
Gabriel Macht	...	John Russell, Jr.
Lee Pace	...	Richard Hayes
Joe Pesci	...	Joseph Palmi

Storyline

Laconic and self-contained, Edward Wilson heads CIA covert operations during the Bay of Pigs. The agency suspects that Castro was tipped, so Wilson looks for the leak. As he investigates, he recalls, in a series of flashbacks, his father's death, student days at Yale (poetry; Skull and Bones), recruitment into the fledgling OSS, truncated affairs, a shotgun marriage, cutting his teeth on spy craft in London, distance from his son, the emergence of the Cold War, and relationships with agency, British, and Soviet counterparts. We watch his idealism give way to something else: disclosing the nature of that something else is at the heart of the film's narration as he closes in on the leak.

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Plot Keywords:

o.s.s. | student | cold war | bay of pigs | poetry | 

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Taglines:

Edward Wilson believed in America, and he would sacrifice everything he loved to protect it.

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Genres:

Drama | History | Thriller

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Certificate:

14A

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Russia] Universal [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Russian German Lingala

Release Date:

22 December 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Le bon berger

Filming Locations:

Potomac River, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$90,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£629,863 (UK) (23 February 2007)

Gross:

£1,709,530 (UK) (9 March 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Morgan Creek Productions, Tribeca Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

167 min 139 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jude Law was considered for the role of Edward Wilson.

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Goofs

When Wilson is chatting with Palmi, they both are wearing glasses with modern coatings.

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Quotes

Sam Murach: You're asking me to give you FBI files of an American citizen? You know I can't do that, it's against the law to spy on citizens.
Edward Wilson: Keep it. Maybe someday you'll change your mind.

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Crazy Credits

The end credits feature the dedication "In memory of Gretchen Rau".

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Connections

Referenced in Up Late with Alec Baldwin: Episode #1.4 (2013)

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Soundtracks

Blue Skies
Written by Irving Berlin

User Reviews

Excellent

Excellent.

The good shepherd is an excellent film. The reason this film was dubbed the "Godfather of spy movies" is because ala the "Godfather" De Niro uses real life situations involving the CIA and blends them together creating a story around the lead character played by Matt Damon. In addition,several great performances in character parts complement Damon's performance, notably Michael Gambon and John Turturro were both superb. You shouldn't view this film expecting to be blown out of your seats, it is deep, and requires strict attention to detail. My wife and I viewed this film in a packed movie house and we were very certain that half the people in the audience didn't understand or appreciate what they had just seen. I am not saying you need to be of great intellect to enjoy this film, but one of the things De Niro manages to do is bring back a thinking man's drama that is often not seen in today's attention deficit, shoot them up, bang – bang movies. This film makes it obvious that Directors Bertolucci and Leone have left a huge impression on De Niro and the result is a movie that both would be proud of.