O Bom Pastor

Nobody disputes that Robert De Niro is a great actor; but there is some doubt in my mind about his being a great director. He proved himself in A Bronx Tale, but that could have been just beginner’s luck. But he didn’t confirm his talent in his second movie, The Score. But now, eight years after his debut there is no even the slightest doubt. He chose interesting and attractive subject matter, brought in lots of outstanding actors and made an almost faultless picture. OK, he has a slightly old-fashioned way of storytelling and the pace is pretty darn peculiar, but if you manage to get on his wavelength then The Good Shepherd will totally engross you. The one blemish on its beauty is perhaps the way that the characters just don’t age over the entire twenty-five years that the movie covers. One of the movie high points of last year and a movie that will achieve deserved recognition sooner or later. Because this is a good piece of craftsmanship that he put not just his talent but his heart into. In other words, something that unfortunately we do not see too often in movies today. (05/08/2007)

The Good Shepherd is the perfect opposite of purely entertaining series like James Bond or Mission Impossible, which are action-packed and dynamic films. It is such a strong denial of established genre schemes that it must outrage the average genre fan, who will use expressions like boring, tiresome, and unengaging to describe the film. Not a single shootout or fistfight appears in this spy movie. Nevertheless, it is full of internal tension, great acting performances, and very clever dialogues. Matt Damon portrays his agent as the opposite of his most famous film character - Jason Bourne. His character Edward Wilson is an inconspicuous bureaucrat in the government services, without dazzling charisma, who earned his career in the Secret Service through his intelligence and analytical ability. Thanks to his character, the viewer incidentally learns about the circumstances of the CIA's origin and its most significant victories and defeats. A very powerful and complex film without notable weaknesses, which most likely comes very close to the reality of secret service work. The only thing that bothered me was Angelina Jolie in the role of the wife, as her glamorous face didn't suit this film. Overall impression: 90%. (22/10/2008)

My favorite, the ridiculously slick hairstyle of Matt Damon, a boring execution and an unnecessarily convoluted script. After five minutes, you have no doubt that you will never watch this film again, there isn’t a single reason for it. It is a directorial attempt that is somewhat poorly managed and pretentiously portrayed, and very cold. And even though Angelina Jolie tries to dilute this wooden story with all her might, it is still not enough. Damon is irritating, De Niro is there for a few minutes, and Pesci for a few seconds. The plot unfolds slowly, and what can be said in five minutes, director De Niro tells in thirty-five. This is no enjoyable old-school entertainment at all. (24/07/2008)

Robert De Niro crafted a kind of mini-saga, somewhat in the style of Francis Ford Coppola, but he didn't manage to create characters that were compelling enough to watch throughout the entire film and still enjoy. I have to admit that I struggled with the length of the film, and there wasn't anything substantial that truly impressed me or made me connect with the movie. (30/03/2014)

Robert De Niro as director plus actor in a minor role in a film based on true events that describes the creation of the CIA. Matt Damon as a spy in one of his better roles, who in this case is forced to make a strict choice between love and loyalty to the US government. There’s a certain patriotism present, of course; the characters are certainly boilerplate and very easy to identify as archetypes. On the other hand, de Niro's style reminded me in some ways of Clint Eastwood (which I consider a plus); the slow narrative has something to it (although I must admit that at about two points it felt a bit assembled). Nothing new under the sun, nothing groundbreaking, but still a piece of honest filmmaking topped off by the excellent Damon. (21/08/2012)