The Good German
|
List Price: Our Price: $1.18 You Save: $18.80 (94%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.09 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of The Good German
Movie Review: Moody and dark
Summary: 4 Stars
Starring George Clooney, Tobey Maguire, and Cate Blanchette, The Good German is set in post-war Berlin. Newspaper reporter Jake Geismer (Clooney) is covering the peace talks, and enterprising young Tully (Maguire, in probably the least sympathetic role I've ever seen him play) is his military-assigned driver during the trip. Who should Jake run into but Lena (Blanchette), his former lover? And Lena now just happens to be involved with Tully. Sound like too much of a coincidence? You bet it is. When Tully turns up dead, Geismer spends the rest of the movie trying to figure out whodunit and why.
Shot in black and white, in the film noir style, the cinematography is a beauty to behold. Rich, dark shadows with angles of light. Blanchette's hair, black for the film, stands out in sharp relief against her pale coloring. Costumes are gorgeous and almost worth killing for. Even the cigarette smoke cooperates, wafting eerily through the scenes.
Unlike some previous reviewers, I thought the performances were unbelievable. Blanchette is a chameleon. I fully believe this woman can be ANYONE. Maguire was easy to hate as the mercenary Tully, which was a nice change for him. His boyish face, which has worked so well for him as an awkward hero in the past, adds subtle dimension to this role as a very hatable character.
Movie Review: Soderbergh's respectful homage to the Film Noir
Summary: 4 Stars
An American Army journalist (George Clooney) has arrived in Berlin to cover the Potsdam Conference and soons finds himself embroiled in murder and intrigue.
"The Good German" is director Steven Soderbergh's homage to the Film Noir genre.
All the usual Noir elements are there - a convoluted plot, a femme fatale, romance, mystery, and a hero who is continually being beaten up.
There are strong echoes of Carol Reed's "The Third Man" in the post WWII setting (in this case Berlin) and also Michael Curtiz's "Casablanca" in the relationship between Blanchett and Clooney's characters.
Soderbergh employs a number of devices to evoke the Noir look of the film: firstly it is shot in black and white, secondly there are "wipes" between scenes, thirdly an over-ripe musical score by Thomas Newman typical of the period, fourthly it (deliberately) looks like it was shot in a studio replete with obvious rear-screen projection when characters are driving around.
Overall the film works quite well. The acting is excellent especially Blanchett at the tortured Lena Brandt. Only Tobey Maguire as a brutal, scheming Army driver fails to convince.
One only hopes that Soderbergh and Clooney continue to make interesting films like this while the "Ocean" films continue to pay the bills.
Movie Review: Like everyone else has said; Different. Good but not great.
Summary: 4 Stars
"Different. Good but not great." That pretty much sums it up. I am not a film noir expert. My movie experiences of the past mostly stem from Alfred Hitchcock movies. And have only seen Casablanca once, a long time ago. Actually, it doesn't really matter, I think some of the elements of the past were captured pretty well, it was the plot (or maybe the book to movie translation) and script that really didn't work. The lighting was well done, the shadows, the music to set the tone. All of that was done pretty well. There were some good support roles also. I even kind of like Tobey's appearance. The things for me that didn't work were the simplistic dialogue, the kind of strange background plot, and there were no real climatic moments. After a while, you don't really care what happens, you just kind of want stuff to be wrapped up. And then when it is wrapped up, you still don't care.
And on another note, normally we think of the heroine character as someone we empathize with. Our heroine seemed a little dirty for me. She seemed to be popular in the towns that she visited (if you know what I mean), also I couldn't let go the Nazi angle. These aren't some of the best deeds for the lead characters.
In summary, better than a lot of garbage out there. But misses on a couple of levels.
Movie Review: Multi-layered homage to 1940s filmmaking
Summary: 4 Stars
George Clooney and Cate Blanchett headline in this hard-hitting, rough-edged homage to WWII-era war films and postwar film noir. The film is shot in black-and-white and both borrows from and defies the cinematographic conventions of the time: the shadows are well-defined, the actors are boldly marked with strong key lights, yet the whites and lighter sections are often flared out and hazy, more like the wartime newsreels, which were shot on the fly rather than on some Hollywood set. This is a good metaphor for the film as well: it's difficult to see the light amid the darkness and grime of a decimated Berlin. Director Stephen Soderberg pays homage to many classic films -- "Casablanca," "The Third Man," et.al. -- but he also make use of the documentary feel of Frank Capra's wartime training films and the desolate, grainy footage of the liberation period. The story is unremittingly dark and cynical, as Clooney's optimistic tough-guy hero is repeatedly pummeled both by Spillane/Chandler goons and by the force of history, the optimism of prewar America is battered as well... This film is bleak, but substantive, and also an engaging, clever treat for film buffs. Definitely worth checking out!Movie Review: Worth Seeing.
Summary: 4 Stars
I really think that Cate Blanchett's performance here is as good as anything I've seen lately. She is incredibly impressive as Lena and her passion for the role has a powerful effect on our enjoyment of The Good German. As for Clooney, he is believable as Jake Geismer and makes a solid contribution. The only important actor here I cannot be as positive about; although, perhaps I'm the only person who remains completely unimpressed by Tobey Maguire. I was surprised by how discordant his efforts were. He reminded me of that phrase that acting is not "acting" as he was "acting" or seemed to be intentionally playing a character. I felt that his Tully was contrived and quite bizarre. He stood out like spoiled sauerkraut among this ensemble, and detracted from the movie's worth. The plot itself was riveting and it kept you focused in every scene as if it were a classic piece of 40s noir, but, at its root, the storyline was rather fantastic. The US occupation government in Germany was a little too clueless to be as sinister as they are depicted here. My willingness to suspend belief was strained, but I still found The Good German to be entertaining.