Them Doofy Shepherd

Finally saw The Good Shepherd last night. DeNiro's direction is really pretty impressive, though in a couple key multi-cut, multi-location, related-action sequences the editing could have been clearer. Matt Damon's performance as one of the first men chosen as a CIA bigwig is unimpeachable, but if that sounds like damning with faint praise, so be it. His role here recalls his torn-loyalties family man in Syriana, a far better movie that gave him some outlet for playing a real human. Perhaps he was directed into virtual mummification in TGS, but more's the shame: the outcome is soporific no matter whose idea it was. I do think it's to his credit that the mask of vague distress he wears through roughly 162 of the movie's 166 minutes conveys a lot of cranial activity and apprehension going on, but finally it's a little draining to see Matt Damon looking so distressed for so long.

Enjoyment of the movie hinges, I think, on one's appreciation for complex multicharacter spy plots and non-linear storytelling... Well, no: that term's not really apt. The story is told in two very straightforward lines, merely toggling between them. It's really not much more than simple flashback for all the timebanditing has to do with things. We don't get any sudden enlightenment of previously obscured plot points; seeing Damon's character development from Yale through the Bay of Pigs invasion may enrich our appreciation of the character, but for all that, the character remains mostly a affectless dullard throughout. Some high drama is achieved in the film's final act, and loose ends are very neatly tied up (including some that you really have to have been paying attention from the first few minutes to figure out, and probably some that I didn't figure out...).

Oh and but so: friggin' Keir Dullea! Who's seen him in ANYTHING since he cameo'd as AstralDave in the extravagantly mediocre 2010: The Year We Make Contact? Holy cow! And Angelina Jolie (I so think she is one of our most extraordinary actresses and wonder why we don't see her carrying more movies that aren't about Lara Croft) and Michael Gambon and William Hurt and
Timothy Hutton and John Turturro and Joe Pesci... it's a great cast, even with Alec Baldwin.

Nothing momentous chez moi. Lots of actual work going on this week and the next couple, and so far it's all enjoyable, brain-engaging work, not drudgery. Hooray! Still hoping to get to the Falcon Ridge Folk Fest next weekend (bought fully refundable airfare, though). Am going to try to have one relaxing evening this weekend, maybe have maestro_live and ambivalentcito over for dinner. Otherwise, more work. Whee!