The Good German (2006)

While in post-war Berlin to cover the Potsdam Conference, an American military journalist is drawn into a murder investigation which involves his former mistress and his driver.

Director:

Steven Soderbergh

Writers:

Paul Attanasio (screenplay), Joseph Kanon (novel)

Stars:

George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Tobey Maguire

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
George Clooney	...	Jake Geismer
Cate Blanchett	...	Lena Brandt
Tobey Maguire	...	Tully
Beau Bridges	...	Colonel Muller
Tony Curran	...	Danny
Leland Orser	...	Bernie
Jack Thompson	...	Congressman Breimer
Robin Weigert	...	Hannelore
Ravil Isyanov	...	General Sikorsky
Christian Oliver	...	Emil Brandt
Dave Power	...	Lieutenant Schaeffer
Don Pugsley	...	Gunther
Dominic Comperatore	...	Levi
John Roeder	...	General
J. Paul Boehmer	...	British Press Aide

Storyline

Berlin, July, 1945. Journalist Jake Geismer arrives to cover the Potsdam conference, issued a captain's uniform for easier passage. He also wants to find Lena, an old flame who's now a prostitute desperate to get out of Berlin. He discovers that the driver he's assigned, a cheerful down-home sadist named Corporal Tully, is Lena's keeper. When the body of a murdered man washes up in Potsdam (within the Russian sector), Jake may be the only person who wants to solve the crime: U.S. personnel are busy finding Nazis to bring to trial, the Russians and the Americans are looking for German rocket scientists, and Lena has her own secrets.

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Plot Keywords:

nazi | prostitute | head held underwater | sex shop | striptease | 

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Taglines:

Not Everyone Finds Peace After The War

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, violence and some sexual content

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kate Winslet was previously linked to the female lead.

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Goofs

Upon Geismer's first visit to her apartment, Lena lights the stove and begins heating a kettle. Shortly, she announces she is going to bed, leaving the kettle over the stove's flame (as well as a lit candle on the table).

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Quotes

Lena Brandt: You can never really get out of Berlin.

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Crazy Credits

All the logos appear in black and white, while the Warner Brothers logo appears in the forties old style

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Connections

Referenced in The Daily Show: George Clooney (2006)

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Soundtracks

You're Some Pretty Doll
Written by Clarence Williams
Performed by William Marsh, Chris Ross, Johnny Britt and Gary Stockdale

User Reviews

A 5/10 at best

The Good German- Well I don't know how else to put this besides, this film sucked. Now I'll admit that I'm not a Soderberg fan and don't even like his highly regarded films such as Sex,Lies and Video Tape or Traffic, but that isn't to say that I'll hate a film simply because his name is attached to it.

My hate for this film has do to with the screenplay, Direction, and just all around poor poor film making that went into it. The story is a joke and jumps around all over the place making little sense most of the time, the dialogue is written to match which is to say it's horrible, and even the cinematography that was talked about so much looks little like classic films from the 40s and instead just looks like a generic modern film with some stock footage thrown in.

It's one of those films that while watching you just have to wonder why it was even made and how anyone involved thought they were making anything worth while. It's one of those films that matter so little that they won't even be remembered for how bad they were but will instead be forgotten.

And don't even get me started on the Casablanca references.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Germany] Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English German Russian

Release Date:

19 January 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Good German

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$32,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$76,817, 17 December 2006

Gross USA:

$1,308,696

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,914,908

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sunset Gower Studios, Warner Bros., Section Eight

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1