JackThe Good Shepherd
November 22nd 2006 05:08
The Good Shepherd is a 2006 film directed by Robert De Niro (his second directorial effort after A Bronx Tale) and starring Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, and De Niro himself, in addition to an extensive supporting cast. The film tells the untold story of the birth of the Central Intelligence Agency. It will be released in the USA on December 22nd. The Australian release date is February 8th, 2007.
The value of secrecy -- commitment to honour and discretion -- has been embedded in Edward Wilson (Matt Damon) since childhood. As a dedicated, optimistic student at Yale University, he is recruited to join the Order of Skull and Bones, a secret society designed to breed the world leaders of tomorrow. Wilson's acute intelligence, immaculate reputation, and sincere belief in American values render him a prime candidate for a career in intelligence. During the Second World War, Bill Sullivan (Robert De Niro) recruits him to the new Office of Strategic Services, a precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency. As one of the Office's covert founders, duplicity is required of Wilson as he navigates a world where nothing can be accepted at face value.
Over his thirty-year career, Wilson's methods are adopted as standard operating procedure and he becomes a respected veteran in his field, but his idealism is eroded by a growing suspicious nature, reflective of a world settling into the long paranoia of the Cold War, and an escalating conflict with his volatile Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (KGB) counterpart. In the end, he sacrifices everything in the name of serving the country he loves, including his devoted wife Clover (Angelina Jolie), his children, and himself.
Interesting Facts:
Edward Wilson, the character played by Matt Damon, is based at least in part on James Jesus Angleton, the long-serving director of the CIA's counter-intelligence staff who also fell victim to intense paranoia during his career, and covert operations specialist Richard Bissell.
Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon's co-star in The Departed, was once set to play Edward Wilson, but left the project. It would have been DiCaprio's third film with De Niro, following Marvin's Room and This Boy's Life. It's second time Damon's accepted a role DiCaprio once considered, after All the Pretty Horses.
This is Joe Pesci's first film in eight years. His last was Lethal Weapon 4.
Cast:
Matt Damon - Edward Wilson
Angelina Jolie - Clover Wilson
Alec Baldwin - Sam Murach
Michael Gambon - Dr. Fredericks
William Hurt - Philip Allem
Jason Patric - Ned Scott
Joe Pesci - Joseph Palmi
Eddie Redmayne - Edward Wilson, Jr.
John Sessions - Valentin Mironov
John Turturro - Ray Brocco
Robert De Niro - Bill Sullivan
Other Info:
Genre: Drama / Romance / Thriller
Directed by: Robert De Niro
Produced by: Robert De Niro, James G. Robinson, Jane Rosenthal
Written by: Eric Roth
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Cinematography: Robert Richardson
Release date: USA - December 22nd, 2006; Australia - February 8th, 2007; UK - February 23rd, 2007
Budget: US $90 million
Rating: USA - R; some violence, sexuality and language
*This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation Licence. It uses material from the Wikipedia article The Good Shepherd (film).
The value of secrecy -- commitment to honour and discretion -- has been embedded in Edward Wilson (Matt Damon) since childhood. As a dedicated, optimistic student at Yale University, he is recruited to join the Order of Skull and Bones, a secret society designed to breed the world leaders of tomorrow. Wilson's acute intelligence, immaculate reputation, and sincere belief in American values render him a prime candidate for a career in intelligence. During the Second World War, Bill Sullivan (Robert De Niro) recruits him to the new Office of Strategic Services, a precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency. As one of the Office's covert founders, duplicity is required of Wilson as he navigates a world where nothing can be accepted at face value.
Over his thirty-year career, Wilson's methods are adopted as standard operating procedure and he becomes a respected veteran in his field, but his idealism is eroded by a growing suspicious nature, reflective of a world settling into the long paranoia of the Cold War, and an escalating conflict with his volatile Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (KGB) counterpart. In the end, he sacrifices everything in the name of serving the country he loves, including his devoted wife Clover (Angelina Jolie), his children, and himself.
Interesting Facts:
Edward Wilson, the character played by Matt Damon, is based at least in part on James Jesus Angleton, the long-serving director of the CIA's counter-intelligence staff who also fell victim to intense paranoia during his career, and covert operations specialist Richard Bissell.
Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon's co-star in The Departed, was once set to play Edward Wilson, but left the project. It would have been DiCaprio's third film with De Niro, following Marvin's Room and This Boy's Life. It's second time Damon's accepted a role DiCaprio once considered, after All the Pretty Horses.
This is Joe Pesci's first film in eight years. His last was Lethal Weapon 4.
Cast:
Matt Damon - Edward Wilson
Angelina Jolie - Clover Wilson
Alec Baldwin - Sam Murach
Michael Gambon - Dr. Fredericks
William Hurt - Philip Allem
Jason Patric - Ned Scott
Joe Pesci - Joseph Palmi
Eddie Redmayne - Edward Wilson, Jr.
John Sessions - Valentin Mironov
John Turturro - Ray Brocco
Robert De Niro - Bill Sullivan
Other Info:
Genre: Drama / Romance / Thriller
Directed by: Robert De Niro
Produced by: Robert De Niro, James G. Robinson, Jane Rosenthal
Written by: Eric Roth
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Cinematography: Robert Richardson
Release date: USA - December 22nd, 2006; Australia - February 8th, 2007; UK - February 23rd, 2007
Budget: US $90 million
Rating: USA - R; some violence, sexuality and language
*This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation Licence. It uses material from the Wikipedia article The Good Shepherd (film).
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