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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Since 1996 |
Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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The Good German Stars: George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Tobey Maguire, Beau Bridges, Ravil Issyanov. Christian Olivier, Robin Weigert and Leland Orser Director: Steven Soderbergh Scriptwriter: Paul Attanasio (adapted from the novel by Joseph Kanon) Music: Thomas Newman Warner Brothers Rated: R Running Length: 103 minutes (filmed in black and white) Doing a film in black and white certainly can add a certain film noir flavor to material. Director Steven Soderbergh has taken Paul Attanasio's script and done it as though we were watching a 1940's "B" picture. This isn't a bad idea, but the script here is so mindful of Casablanca that what-were-you-thinking-of comes to mind. Not only that, but George Clooney is lifeless as the lead and Cate Blanchett does an imitation (whether intended or not) of a combination Ingrid Bergman and Katherine Hepburn. If that weren't enough Spiderman's Tobey Maguire takes the role of the narrator and a Sgt. Bilko wannabe, then runs it into the ground. If nothing else, The Good German will remain a film of miscasting. The story is set at the end of WWII in Berlin. It's time for the Potsdam Conference and Nazi war criminals are in hiding. Clooney, as a war reporter, comes to Berlin to cover the conference. Before he can take out a notebook, he meets Lena (Cate Blanchett) an old flame in hiding as a prostitute. She's living with Tobey, who happens to be Clooney's driver. Tobey treats her badly, but as such comes off as an adolescent with temper tantrums. The key question is: what happened to Lena's husband who is a scientist and supposedly working on something hush-hush Top Secret. The script has red herrings compliments of Lena's inability to tell anyone the truth. When she fixes that sad expression on you and says in a Marlene Dietrich voice, "Believe me," run for the hills. The cast is routinely beat up by various thugs who could be American, German or Russian. I lost count. The film is so much a "B" picture, that when Clooney and Tobey are riding in a car, the background is running by as though shot on a screen. This isn't confusing in itself, but you go from thinking this is a serious film to wondering if the cast is parodying a "B" film or really doing the material in earnest. The bomb is dropped here. Copyright 2006 Marie Asner Submitted 12/19/06
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