The Good Shepherd

"Edward Wilson believed in America, and he would sacrifice everything he loved to protect it."

2006 2h 47m EN

😐

6.4

MID

★6.4TMDB · 1,352

DramaThrillerHistory

Synopsis

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Edward Wilson, the only witness to his father's suicide and member of the Skull and Bones Society while a student at Yale, is a morally upright young man who values honor and discretion, qualities that help him to be recruited for a career in the newly founded OSS. His dedication to his work does not come without a price though, leading him to sacrifice his ideals and eventually his family.

“Edward Wilson believed in America, and he would sacrifice everything he loved to protect it.”

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Cast

Matt Damon
Edward Bell Wilson
Angelina Jolie
Margaret Ann Russell
Robert De Niro
Bill Sullivan
Alec Baldwin
Sam Murach
William Hurt
Philip Allen
Joe Pesci
Joseph Palmi
John Turturro
Raymond Brocco
Billy Crudup
Archibald Cummings

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Robert De Niro
Writers: Eric Roth
Languages: English, Russian, Spanish, German, Lingala
Countries: United States of America, France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 167 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $85M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 20 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 5 languages: English, Russian, Spanish, German, Lingala.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United States of America, France.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Robert De Niro, shot by Robert Richardson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Marcelo Zarvos. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Tariq Anwar shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Robert De Niro directs. Robert Richardson behind the camera. Marcelo Zarvos scores. Tariq Anwar cuts. A long sit — settle in. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America, France. Dialogue in English, Russian, Spanish, German, Lingala.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 167 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Mid-budget at $85M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
3Released 20 years ago.
4Dialogue crosses 5 languages: English, Russian, Spanish, German, Lingala.
5International production across 2 countries: United States of America, France.
6Directed by Robert De Niro, shot by Robert Richardson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Marcelo Zarvos. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Tariq Anwar shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie and Robert De Niro carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Edward Wilson believed in America, and he would sacrifice everything he loved to protect it.".
11IMDB entry: tt0343737 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 17 themes, including "berlin, germany", "london, england", "central intelligence agency (cia)", "husband wife relationship".
13Released under 13 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Robert Richardson
Original score: Marcelo Zarvos
Editing: Tariq Anwar
Production design: Jeannine Oppewall
Makeup / hair: Christine Beveridge
Stunt coordinator: G.A. Aguilar
Runtime: 167 min · 2h 47m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $85,000,000
Box office: $100,266,865
Return: 118% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Good Shepherd (2006)

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What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-05-19
★ 6/10
So rather than spend a fortune on special disguises, plastic surgery and prosthetics, the secret of being a successful counter-intelligence agent is loads of Bryclream, a pair of thick-set spectacles and a fawn, knee-length, mac. That's what puts the c into overt! That theory sort works for Matt Damon here with this lacklustre drama set around the time in world history when the American government realised they needed to gather intelligence about whom their potential 20th century foes might be. He is "Edward Wilson", who after being sworn into some top secret masonic style of society at school finds himself learning the arts of espionage in a wartorn London, then to Berlin, the back to Uncle Sam where his accrued skills leave him well placed to root out Nazi sympathisers and Soviet agents and defectors. Initially he is full of the joys of spring, his task a patriotic duty. Increasingly, though, as his hastily arranged marriage to "Margaret" (the sparingly used Angelina Jolie) starts to suffer, cynicism creeps in and what semblance of decency he had begins to become subsumed into a determination to get results - regardless of the methods frequently employed by his sidekick "Ray" (John Turturro). Robert De Niro clearly has pulling power with his directorial promise, but most of the supporting cast add little to this muddling drama that trips over it's own cloak way too often looking for the dagger. Quite where Billy Crudup's accent came from is anyone's guess and the plodding nature of this rather wearisome, if stylishly filmed, drama makes it quite a slog to sit through. It's all just a bit too self-indulgent and presents us with a rather ungracious and arrogant side to an American superiority complex that I found a bit dull.

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