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The Good German
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: George Clooney
Genre:
Drama/Romance
Run Time: 105
min.
Release Date:
December 2006
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
I worry about director
Steven Soderbergh. He’s trying too hard to come up with “something
different.” New gimmicks do not a great film make. He’s done phenomenal
work in the past, including TRAFFIC and The OCEAN’S
resurgence (i.e., OCEAN’S ELEVEN, etc.). These are
straightforward stories with characters we can grasp, laugh at, or worry
about. But then he stretches too far and comes up with EROS,
SOLARIS (which wasn’t too bad), and the bottom rung
BUBBLE.
Attempting to capture some of that ancient Hollywood gold, Soderbergh
puts up THE GOOD GERMAN, a black and white feature in the vein of
CASABLANCA. But any resemblance to the former film ends with the lack of technicolor. Given a chop-shop style script, the success of the movie
hung on the uncharacteristic style more than the acting, dialogue, or
story. The unfortunate part about it is that it doesn’t utilize the
compelling narrative in which the film is based upon, the novel by
Joseph Kanon.
The Good German, that term, is meant to denote a German who may have had
ties to Nazi-ism but who’s record was cleaned up (on paper) so that they
could be exported from the country without the threat of being accused
of war crimes. Never did this essential element come through on film.
What did, though, was a mish-mash of scenes that seemed strung together
without regard to story-flow nor character portrayal. We never care for
— or understand the motivations of — any of these people.
The star is George Clooney (GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK) as Jacob “Jake” Geismer, a journalist sent to Berlin for the post-WWII Potsdam
conference. Once there, we quickly learn that he’s been here before. In
fact, he was involved with a lovely (but married) German named Lena
Brandt (Cate Blanchett, BABEL). Lena is now involved with Corporal
Patrick Tully (Tobey Maguire,
THE ICE STORM) who also happens to be
Jake’s back-stabbing driver. Is this all coincidence? Jake soon finds
out that Lena’s supposedly dead husband may have important documents
those at the Potsdam conference want to keep quiet (i.e., destroy). When
Tully turns up dead, the heat hits Jake full-on, sparking up his
naturally inquisitive journalist mind. Everyone has an agenda and wants
something from each other.
And that’s about it...
The looping of intrigue is nothing new to cinema, but it can be done
correctly if the acting and story are entertaining. You won’t find that
here. The characters/actors are wooden at best, which is quite a
surprise considering the high-caliber cast. Lacking this, one would hope
to find a pearl of success somewhere within the script. Not so. Again,
it has a haphazard feel with poor fluidity.
In the end, it is the filming technique and in-you-face style that
stands out over anything of substance. If you really want to know what a
Good German is, read Kanon’s novel and skip Soderbergh’s interpretation.
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Image from The Good German
DVD cost: $23.99
Purchase:
BestPrices.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy: Cate Blanchett
studied Marlene Dietrich and Ingrid Bergman in order to play her German
character. Ingrid Bergman, however, was Swedish.
Movie Quote: "The
Russians want this to go away. We want it to go away, too."
Other Actors/Actresses
from The Good German
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