The Good Shepherd,
a decades-spanning tale which details the genesis of the CIA as viewed
through the life of one man. While somewhat dry and slightly pedagogic,
it’s also a legitimately fascinating film — a meticulous and doggedly
authentic aerial view of the cloak-and-dagger shell games that made up
the Cold War and are no doubt part the current, forward-leaning,
vaguely defined “war on terror.”

Much like Munich (no coincidence, given that they share
screenwriter Eric Roth, who co-scripted director Steven Spielberg’s
movie with Tony Kushner and penned De Niro’s effort solo), The Good Shepherd takes a complex set of issues and provides an angled
illumination that doesn’t easily let the viewer off the hook, but
rather asks significant and probing questions about what values are
immutable, what compromises necessary, what means justifiable. At over
160 minutes, the film is desperately unsexy — it has the depth and scope of an edifying miniseries, but most of the time the same dry, somber tone as well. Still, this is quality, thoughtful filmmaking, required viewing for political and film junkies alike. For the full review, from FilmStew, click here.