The Good Shepherd

The Good Shepherd is loosely based on real events that happened in the formation of the CIA. Matt Damon plays Edward Wilson, the movie starts during the Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961. Afterwards an anonymous tape & photos are dropped off at Edward Wilson's house.

The movie flashes back to 1939, Edward Wilson is attending Yale and has just become a new member of the Skull and Bones secret society. (For more information on that please watch the movie The Skulls, which is based on this secret society). As one of the initiation rights the new member has to tell the rest of the group a secret. Edward Wilson's secret is that when he was six years old his father committed suicide and left a note. A young Edward found the note and did not show it to anyone and has not read the note to this day. Edward Wilson is approached by FBI Agent Sam Murach (Alec Baldwin) and at Murach request he wants Wilson to spy on one of his professors who he believes is a Nazi spy.

The movie then jumps to the Skull and Bones retreat (for being a secret society they have an annual retreat, I guess they aren't so secret) in 1940. Wilson meets General Bill Sullivan ( Robert De Niro) and asks him if he would like to be part of Office of Strategic Services. Wilson accepts and Sullivan says he will be getting his orders soon. At the retreat Edward Wilson is seduced by Margaret 'Clover' Russel (Angelina Jolie) and they end up consummating the relationship in the dirt next to the campfire (I bet that is show Angelina took Brad away from Jennifer). Edward at the time was dating and in love with a deaf girl Laura (Tammy Blanchard) but you know how these things go. Edward finds out that Clover is pregnant so he has to marry her. Their wedding reception is when he gets his orders to go to London in a week.

When Edward arrives in London he discovers that his professor (Michael Gambon) was actually British intelligence and Edward actually destroyed two years of work for ratting him out to the FBI (whoops, my bad).

The movie then jumps ahead to Berlin 1945 and the Allies and Soviets are trying to bargain and obtain as many Nazi scientist they can get their hands on. Edwards meets his Soviet counterpart with the code name "Ulysses" (Oleg Shtefanko) Edward has a German interpreter with him for all these interviews. She appears to be deaf and since he has a fetish for the deaf he goes back to her place and they consummate their relationship. Edward learns that the hearing aid is actually a spy recorder and well, he has that interpreter taken care of (Tony Soprano style).

Edward finally returns to the United States over being gone for six years. Yeah, Edward & Clover had been married for a week and he was gone. His son's name is Edward Jr. and he has never met his father. During his hiatus he is approached by Sullivan to form what is now called the CIA.

The movie jumps to Edward Jr (Eddie Redmayne) is now at Yale and wants to join the CIA and his mother is not happy with his decision. At the Skull and Bones retreat a few years later Edward Jr. overhears Edward and his associates discuss the upcoming Bay of Pigs invasion.

The Bay of Pigs invasion fails and the CIA begins to analyze the tape & photos that were dropped off at Edwards house in the beginning of the movie. Through clues in the photos and sound they are able to determine the location as the Congo. When Edward arrives in the Congo he discovers that it is his son in the recording and photographs. He was giving classified information to his lover who turned out to be a Soviet spy. (Whoops, my bad).

Now Edward has to deal with the fall-out and complications of Edward Jr.'s actions.

I thought the movie was pretty good. The movie is long though (just short of 3 hours) but it held my attention. Angelina was not in the movie for a long time so that helped too. Matt Damon was about in every scene. I give this movie a 7 out of 10.