The Good German

Soderbergh continues to experiment, but as with Solaris, it just doesn't pay off.

Its clear that from the off that Soderbergh has set himself a strict mandate for this film, make it as much like a forties movie as possible. The music, the acting style, the lighting, the process shots and background paintings all give it a great look and feel.

However, everything is so low key and downbeat that it fails to deliver any suspense or menace. What is essentially a modern thriller dressed as classic noir just isn't thrilling. The plot twist and turns but the drama is never heightened, the pace never seems to increase, it just plods along to its conclusion.

Apart from the sex and swearing, the actors seem straight jacketed into their roles by the 40's styling seemingly because the script lacks any of the dry wit and charm you'd find in a genuine movie of this era. George Clooney for example has every little to do, his character has none of the snappy dialog you'd expect, given his Marlowe-esquire role in the plot. Soderbergh compounds matters by drawing an unfortunate comparison with Bogart. Though generally the acting was of the high quality you'd expect from such a sterling cast, it's difficult to empathise with their characters plights given the lack of suspense or melodrama.

Overall the experiment fails to deliver anything other than a beautifully shot but unengaging film.

Very disappointing.

I was so aware of the attempted style of the film that I could hardly concentrate on anything else. The look, oh, the look. Clooney and Blanchet - Bergman, Bogart, shadows and fog. Pity. It could have been a tense war time thriller - Who is he? Where is he? What is it about? I was always mesmerized by questions like that on films that "The Good German" seems to want to emulate. Sodebergh is one my most recent favorites and one of the main reasons is because he is unafraid of taking chances. The question is, what are the chances taken for? I get more "Bubble" - sort of - than "The Good German" Blanchet is great to watch, she's Hildegarde Kneff and/or a lip-full Gloria Grahame but other than admire her right there on the screen I wasn't permitted to feel anything. George Clooney is just as solid in black and white as he is in color and Tobey McGuire - well, the best I can say is that his contribution is brief. What I took with me as the most valuable aspect of this experiment is/was Thomas Newman's classically colorful score.

Journalist Jake Geismer arrives in Berlin to cover the Potsdam conference. Assigned soldier Patrick Tully as his driver, Geismer soon finds that the cheerful, happy-go-lucky driver is also a quite violent man, tied up with a prostitute named Lena. This is Geismer's second shock as Lena turns out to be an old flame before she turned to selling herself in order to survive. Whenever a body is found in the Russian sector, Geismer finds the authorities unable or unwilling to investigate the crime and is himself drawn into the shady affair.

Like Theo Robertson before me (so often the way here), I had reasonably low expectations for this film, partly due to the so-so reviews and "hit and run" appearance in cinemas in the UK and US alike. Watching it I can understand why it did come and go so quickly because it is not the most modern or immediately engaging of films if you look at it just on the surface. Underneath there is actually a solid political drama narrative that may not be as well done as I would have liked but was still interesting and well delivered. Part of the problem is also part of the appeal of the film and this is the style and feel of the film.

Made in several regards as if it had been made in the mid-1940's, this film seems to have been a project for Sodenbergh to try to pull it off. I'm pleased to say that he has achieved it and that the film has the air of the period (in regards the making of the film rather than the place and period that the film is actually set). The problem is that so much focus seems to have been put on this and not enough on the delivery of the plot. By deliberately shooting on sound stages and in a rather stiff fashion the film cannot help but stiffen the way it all plays out and it does rather rob the narrative of urgency and thrills that it could easily have had in spades. It is a trade-off though, because stylistically the film is very interesting even if I wasn't totally sure the trade was always a good one.

The cast do well to do quite an unnatural style of delivery but still engage with the audience and convince. Clooney holds back his easy charm and delivers in line with the spirit of the overall product, although I can see why his performance didn't please many of those that do love him. Maguire is much more interesting, mixing the typical bright-eyed GI character with something much darker at the same time. Blanchett also impresses with a solid performance as Lena. These carry the film although it is worth noting the good support from Bridges, Isyanov and others. The main impression left on me though came as a result of the Soderbergh as cinematographer as he captures the actors and sets with great style.

Overall a great looking film with a solid, but not great, narrative driving it. It is a shame that the former seems to have come at the expense of the latter and that the trade-off is not totally worth it but it is still an interesting and engaging film.

A clever look: imitation vintage B-movie in black and white; Steven Soderbergh's appropriate, artful gimmick for this film set in Berlin in the immediate aftermath of WWII.

Cate Blanchett turns in an apt theatrical performance given "The Bad German's" archly retro conceit. As the film's mother/whore femme fatale, Cate is sphinx-like, world-weary and made up like a drag queen at Mardi Gras. George Clooney, meanwhile, turns in his routine performance that is altogether too modern and casual. Put him in scrubs and he's ready again for the ER. Together, they create no chemistry nor any other natural science. Toby McGuire, as a sleazy, black-marketing GI, is so painfully hammy you'll find yourself begging for him to stop.

The storyline is awkwardly developed and unnecessarily opaque, its characters cold and remote. There's really nobody to cheer for or identify with; no emotions to hook us into this world. When was the last time that international intrigue, on-screen, was so unintriguing? It's too bad we've been served such an exciting cinematic look -- an overly lit, noir-like one -- only as window dressing on a story as bleak and dreary as the blitzkrieged landscapes on view.

The best film to evoke the period in recent memory. Blanchett and Clooney lead a strong cast and make a better film than expected from the novel's source material. Archival newsreel footage of 1945 Berlin and black and white cinematography put to very effective use. Toby McGuire as a self-serving, mean spirited weasel shows another side of the usually boyish charmer. Beau Bridges well cast as the US army brass who bears a self-righteous similarity to contemporary military higher-ups who think they have a corner on deciding the right thing to do. Secrets, lies, love and intrigue woven together to form a provocative study of moral ambiguities and tough choices in wartime. Highly recommended.