The Good Shepherd

Director: Robert De Niro

Starring: Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Alec Baldwin, Robert De Niro, Michael Gambon

Edward Wilson spent his lifetime living with secrets. The only witness to his father’s suicide, he became a member of the Skull and Bones Society whilst studying at Yale, before being recruited into the predecessor of the CIA, the Office of Strategic Services, and then into the Agency itself. However, his ideals as a man serving his country are constantly under pressure. Both his career and the nation’s safety come under threat when the failed Bay of Pigs invasion suggests there is a spy in Wilson’s office. Suspicious of everyone, his devotion to his work carries with it a heavy price.

Based on true events, legendary actor Robert De Niro creates an intricate thriller in his full directorial debut, plotting the course of the creation of the CIA through the life of one of its founders, Edward Wilson (Damon). Wilson – based on the CIA’s greatest spymaster, James Jesus Angelton – is a complicated character. His terse demeanour would make him a nightmare for many actors, and yet Damon rises to the challenge, continuing from his acclaimed performance in The Departed. He is ably supported by a host of top-class actors, not least Jolie, playing the neglected wife stuck in a loveless marriage with a man she can know nothing about.

The film focuses on a twenty-five-year period, shuttling from the late 1930s through to the early ‘60s, always revealing new information about both Wilson and the work he is doing, adding new pieces to the puzzle. The art of misinformation and deception play a crucial role, as secrets are kept from family members and Russian and American spies play a global chess match. Steadily, the facts emerge from the murky haze Wilson and his KGB counterparts operate in, with moles exposed and double-agents betrayed. As the undulating timeframe begins to settle near the climax of the film, we see Wilson as a man caught between the duties he feels towards his family and the loyalty he has for his country.

The Good Shepherd is a complex thriller, the use of cryptic messages, figurative speech and veiled gestures providing for a cerebral experience. However, De Niro rewards the attentive viewer with a quality film, and the tense finish will leave the audience debating whether or not Wilson made the right choices.

Michael Lazenby