In Need of a Good Shearing

"The Good Shepherd" is one of those movies you want to like but unless you're into masochism, you won't.

It has first-rate names attached: Robert DeNiro directs and acts in it; Matt Damon is the star; Angelina Jolie is his unloved wife; there's also Alec Baldwin, William Hurt, Timothy Hutton, Joe Pesci and a lot more.

But the slow moving and overly long film never catches fire, never moves beyond its film noir feel to find or show any real emotion. Even events with great historical significance, such as the Bay of Pigs invasion, simply wind up boring even a history buff as events are told through flashbacks on the life of one man who seems barely there.

Damon plays Edward Wilson, a Skull and Bones Yalie recruited by the Office of Strategic Services, precursor of the CIA, during World War II. His discreet nature and sense of honor, growing out of witnessing his father's suicide, draw the recruiters to him and he is happy to join.

At least I think he's happy because there's no indication of much emotion in Damon but it appears he likes the idea because it allows him to flee his brand-new, forced marriage. He leaves his true love on the beach.

Despite his intentions to do good, he is slowly drawn into the CIA web of doing what he is told, at the cost of his honor and his family. He consistently makes choices that suit his position in the CIA, to the detriment of himself and his family. Yet we don't see how troubling this must be--we see an amazingly stoic fellow reviewing his life and his choices without hearing or seeing the conundrums laid out in a clear way or in a way that spells out how difficult and painful his choices must be.

So we get the facts through the flashbacks but not the people, even though Wilson's family is a recurring part of the story--no feelings, just gauzy facts. Occasionally, Jolie, as Wilson's wife, erupts into emotions, only to be stuffed back into the bottle again, with little or no explanation of why she's quieted down and accepted her loveless marriage again.

Bit by bit and starting from the early days of his spy career, Wilson is drawn into the dirty side of the job. He sees an old professor destroyed, learns to trust no one, and is finally detailed the thankless job of discovering the leak on the Bay of Pigs fiasco. As he sinks into the CIA morass, others drown, figuratively, with him.

But well before the movie ends, we don't really care.

Because the characters don't.