The Good Shepherd (DVD)

Being a HUGE fan of Robert De Niro and not a fan of the original Good Shepherd film, I was interested to watch his version. To say I loved his directorial debut, A Bronx Tale, is an understatement; from the soundtrack, the casting, the themes and even De Niro's method acting guise as the father (gaining a budsdriver's liscence and collecing fares for a few months) It was truly an amazing film, and I watched the film AND all the closing titles until my VHS rewound the tape automatically. The Good Shepherd was a hell of a lot better than the original and explored sensitive issued in the true reserved yet sensitive style De Niro is famous for as an actor, director and individual shy person. I can see how De Niro's morals, views and opnions were reflected in this film, having read the baxter, dougan, makay and powell biographies, as well as commentaries in various annotations by scorsese. The film is entertaining and opens ones eyes to issues of relationships, loyalties and com mitments but fails to provide the entertaining tour de force that so many de niro films, esecially bronx tale, have in the past. I found myself wanting the film to hurry up and finnish, a harsh contrast to a bronx tale where i let the credits roll, hoping for more fascinating dyamic narrative.

a good film but a let down to de niros high standard set by bronx tale and such film collaborations with scorsese as taxi driver, casino, goodfellas and the epic raging bull.

Its worth buying and watching more than once, finding more underlying narratives at each viewing but do not expect another de niro landmark motion picture.

Having seen the advert on buses and billboards all over London and the fact that it had Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie, (mmm yummy!) I made up my mind to see this film. I did not have the time to go to the cinema because of my work. So recently when I bought my new laptop I decided that it was time to see it. As usual I logged on to my favourite shopping site (eBay) and purchased it. It was worth the wait! It is a truly powerful, intelligent, and deep movie with a sensible storyline that can be adapted to any era. Matt gave another one of his great business-like performances while Angelina had to adapt to several situations all of which she plays incredibly well. I firmly believe that I have never seen one woman play so many different roles in one film, so well. This is a film that I would recommend with all honesty to guarantee a satisfying cinematic experience. PS: I take my movies very seriously.

This looked like a promising film given the excellent cast, and was shot beautifully. But the plot was jumpy and confusing, and skipped repeatedly from the past to the future with the lead character showing no signs of ageing. This film was confusing, and seemed to lack substance from the outset, being very slow paced. A real dispppointment from what could have been a great film.