Good Shepherd

[buddah0425]

The cast of this movie was incredible and the acting was superb. Matt Damon did an excellent job playing the part of Edward Wilson. Without giving too much away I will say it was sad to see the sacrifice some people make to live such a secret life and how it effects their family. I wonder if it's actually worth it... Of course, without the dedication of such people who work for our government, where would we be today? Although I enjoyed the movie very much, at times it was a little hard to follow and a little long. I did like, however, that it followed Edward Wilson's life full circle and didn't leave you wondering.

[Grey Cat]

Thanks for the review, Buddah! I'm taking my mother to see it Sunday and was wondering if it would be any good. To me, anything with DeNiro is worth watching. I just have to figure out a way to keep my mother quiet during the movie. She loves to comment and explain things (in case anyone in the theater missed anything)!

[Deb]

I thought this was a very good movie. As stated, Matt Damon was excellent. Actually Robert DeNiro did not have a big part in front of the camera. He did however direct the film.
The sacrifice that one makes and the effect it has on the family was mentioned and for me, it would not be worth it. That being said, I believe we do need an Intelligence Agency and it needs to be secret to remain safe. Perhaps the people who want careers in the field need to stay single.
The movie was a tad long as mentioned.
I could not help but think and wonder about that time compared to our present. It was mentioned in the movie that we were always made to fear Russia's capabilities to attack us back then when the fact of the matter was that they pretty much had painted rust for weapons and did not possess the technology to attack us. But the American people were made to believe this so the they would support the funding needed to build weapons etc. Kind of like the scare tactics that were used to make us think Iraq was a threat and had weapons of mass destruction. Very old but effective psychological technique used when the Govt wants the public to back what would otherwise be an unpopular move. Interesting.
Needless to say the movie was thought provoking.
Kind of said it all near the end when asked why the CIA was never referred to as 'The CIA' by it's agents but rather just 'CIA'. The answer was the question 'Do you ever refer to God as 'The God'. Kind of a scary perspective to me. I would definately recommend this movie.

[rkupstis]

I too give a thumbs up to this movie and reccommend it highly. It should take some Oscars but I wouldn't know where to give them; possibly to DiNero for directing. A bit long and jumpy through time periods and Damon as the stoic Wilson doesn't seem to age over a 20 year time span. Loved the Skull and Bones scene.
Unlike the James Bond genre movies, I felt this was quite true to life, sort of akin to "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold".
Finally; who did the plane thing, CIA or KGB? And were those chocolates poisoned?

[commonsense]

The cast of this movie was incredible and the acting was superb. Matt Damon did an excellent job playing the part of Edward Wilson. Without giving too much away I will say it was sad to see the sacrifice some people make to live such a secret life and how it effects their family. I wonder if it's actually worth it... Of course, without the dedication of such people who work for our government, where would we be today? Although I enjoyed the movie very much, at times it was a little hard to follow and a little long. I did like, however, that it followed Edward Wilson's life full circle and didn't leave you wondering.

I find your evaluation of this movie interesting but I viewed it a little differently

I agree it was well acted but it was clearly an indictment of our CIA as viewed by the majority of the left wing movie making elite. People who risk their life to do the thankless often untold job of protecting our company shouldn't be made to look like villains. Rather they should be portrayed as the heroes they are. The hollywood hate America crowd should try making a movie like this in Iran, or Syria or China