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"Not Quite Up to
the Standard it Strives
to Copy..." |
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Directed by Steven
Soderbergh - Written by
Paul Attanasio
Starring George Clooney,
Cate Blanchett, Tobey
Maguire, Beau Bridges
Distributed by Warner
Bros. -
2006 - 105m - Rated R |
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Here's imitating you kid! |
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Surely you know that
sensation while driving where you awake from a daydream, eyes glazed
and complete unaware of how you got there. It is a strange feeling
-- you clearly went though the motions, yet you cannot recall much
about it. Essentially, that is what happened to me during this film.
I know I sat through it... but somewhere along the way, I just tuned
out.
I have to admit that Steven Soderbergh's "The Good German" seemed,
on the surface, to be one of the most intriguing films of 2006. It
was easily one of my ten most anticipated movies during Oscar
season. After all, what's not to like about a Soderbergh recreation
of a 1940's production, using original equipment from that decade,
shooting in a style reminiscent of "Casablanca" and having George
Clooney and Cate Blanchett deliver lines like Bogart and Dietrich.
It all sounded so magnificent to me.
Unfortunately, this effort suffers from a veritable host of
maladies. The plot is uninvolving and convoluted. The characters are
balls of lint blowing in the breeze. The casting is questionable.
The pace is lethargic beyond belief. The score is supremely
forgettable. And the direction feels more like an experiment in
1940's imitation than it does a tangible exercise is cinematic
storytelling.
"The Good German" is a young girl playing dress-up with Mommy's
stuff -- nothing fits right and the make-up is applied too
liberally. It all reeks of experimentation rather than execution.
The effort is admirable, even cutely adorable... but you can't go
out in public like that and expect to be taken seriously.
To quickly mention the plot, almost out of habit rather than
necessity, Clooney returns to Berlin just as WWII has ended. It is a
corrupt city, overflowing with those who are looking for a quick
buck. Tobey Maguire is his assigned driver and one of the
aforementioned scammers. Cate Blanchett is the femme-fatale, married
to a man that everyone seems to be after for one reason or another,
and she is also fooling around with Maguire. Clooney and Blanchett
have a past together. Secrets are being bantered around like
currency. People get killed. Double-crosses and sub-plot intrigues
rear their ugly heads. Exposition here. Exposition there. Blah,
blah, blah. I forget the rest.
Blanchett is the standout in the cast. She really goes for it and
pulls off a nifty performance that feels "in place and in time" with
the goal of the movie. Clooney has always struck me as an "old
school" movie star -- but he seems too contemporary for this era.
There is a smarmy confidence about him, most notable in the "Ocean's
Eleven" series, that oozes out of every pore. It is very un-Cary
Grant-like. And don't get me started on Tobey Maguire... So utterly
miscast in every conceivable way. He looks like a greasy zit-faced
teenager, rattling off lines with a baby's voice. He cannot pull
this role off under any circumstances. Maguire is the antithesis of
1940's style and sophistication.
Overall, "The Good German" is a nice tip of the cap to a wonderful
era... and nothing more. It strikes me as an American Idol
contestant trying to do Sinatra. The intent is commendable. The
result is a shame. It looks nice in parts, but it really helps
accentuate the brilliance of classics like "Casablanca" and "The
Third Man"... Films whose authentic class and elegance appear
effortless in comparison. |
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© Written by TC Candler -
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