The Good German
I was hesitant to see The Good German because the critics didn't give it such good reviews. But after speaking to a few people who saw the film and liked it I decided to take a chance and see it on the big screen. And boy am I glad that I did. This film may not be a masterpiece and it is not director Steven Soderbergh's best work but it is definitely worthwhile.
Capt. Jacob Geismer (George Clooney) returns to Berlin in 1945 (he left before the war). He is covering the Pottsdam Peace Conference for the New Republic. The driver who is assigned to him is a young American soldier named Patrick Tully (Tobey Maguire). Tully may like to talk about his mother's great apple pie but he is anything but wholesome. It seems that Geismer and Tully have something in common - a woman named Lena Brandt (Cate Blanchett). Before he left Berlin Geismer had an affair with her. And now Tully has take over.
The Americans are very anxious to get a hold of Lena's husband Emil. It seems that he has some very important information that they need and they want to get to him before the Russians do.
I am not going to say another word about the plot because that would be giving too much away.
I thought that screenwriter Paul Attanasio fleshed out a most interesting story from Joseph Kanon's book (which I now want to read). And Soderbergh did an amazing job of bringing to life post-war Berlin in glorious black and white (he is responsible for the terrific cinematography).
Thomas Newman's score is outstanding and helps create the mood of the film.
This is an old fashioned type of film noir and Clooney is perfect in his role. He reminds me of many of those handsome actors of the 40s. Blanchett is just marvelous as the femme fatale Lena - a woman with a huge secret. The rest of the cast is fine. Robin Weigert as Lena's
friend Hannalore was particularly good. My only problem with the film was Maguire. He is playing against type and it just didn't work. His acting seemed forced. I would much rather have seen Ryan Gosling in this role. He would have been perfect. Luckily Maguire doesn't have much screen time.
The Good German borrows a lot from the films of yesterday. It tries to recreate the look and feel of films like Casablanca. And while not in that class of film The Good German does succeed as an intriguing film done in a style that we don't often see these days. Hats off to Soderbergh for taking a risk and giving us something different.
Capt. Jacob Geismer (George Clooney) returns to Berlin in 1945 (he left before the war). He is covering the Pottsdam Peace Conference for the New Republic. The driver who is assigned to him is a young American soldier named Patrick Tully (Tobey Maguire). Tully may like to talk about his mother's great apple pie but he is anything but wholesome. It seems that Geismer and Tully have something in common - a woman named Lena Brandt (Cate Blanchett). Before he left Berlin Geismer had an affair with her. And now Tully has take over.
The Americans are very anxious to get a hold of Lena's husband Emil. It seems that he has some very important information that they need and they want to get to him before the Russians do.
I am not going to say another word about the plot because that would be giving too much away.
I thought that screenwriter Paul Attanasio fleshed out a most interesting story from Joseph Kanon's book (which I now want to read). And Soderbergh did an amazing job of bringing to life post-war Berlin in glorious black and white (he is responsible for the terrific cinematography).
Thomas Newman's score is outstanding and helps create the mood of the film.
This is an old fashioned type of film noir and Clooney is perfect in his role. He reminds me of many of those handsome actors of the 40s. Blanchett is just marvelous as the femme fatale Lena - a woman with a huge secret. The rest of the cast is fine. Robin Weigert as Lena's
friend Hannalore was particularly good. My only problem with the film was Maguire. He is playing against type and it just didn't work. His acting seemed forced. I would much rather have seen Ryan Gosling in this role. He would have been perfect. Luckily Maguire doesn't have much screen time.
The Good German borrows a lot from the films of yesterday. It tries to recreate the look and feel of films like Casablanca. And while not in that class of film The Good German does succeed as an intriguing film done in a style that we don't often see these days. Hats off to Soderbergh for taking a risk and giving us something different.
posted by Film Fanatic | 7:23 PM
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