I was asked yesterday by a very intelligent person why all the movie reviews I post are glowing. They're all "FABULOUS" or "A MUST-WATCH!". Well... that's 'cause I don't waste time writing about movies I don't like!..... UNTIL NOW!
The Good German, starring George Clooney (Ocean's 11/12/13, Michael Clayton), Cate Blanchett (LOTR, Babel, The Aviator) and Tobey Maguire (Spiderman series) is directed by the ultimate George Clooney fan - Steven Soderbergh (Ocean's series, Michael Clayton). Soderbergh has experimented with this film by shooting in "Film Noir"... which is a cool way of saying Black & White in 40's crime movie style.
The Good German is set in post war Berlin where George Clooney, a journalist arrives looking for a story. Instead, he meets his ex-secretary-with-benefits (Cate Blanchett), her new boyfriend (Tobey Maguire) who gets killed, her husband who was supposed to be dead and it's all a hash of political conspiracy from there.
Now - the plot outline is engaging enough. Visually, he's been successful in reproducing Film Noir from the 40s. He's paid attention to other details like the poster (the visual here) is a homage to Casablanca and so is the last scene at an airport. So it's pretty and everything.... But he forgot to make the film!
The characters are undercooked... he gets too busy making sure the film looks great and the plot comes together. George Clooney is same old - suave, unflustered, composed - think Oceans 11/12/13, Michael Clayton and any other movie he's ever done. And Tobey is wooden without his spidey costume that covers his facial expressions.... or lack thereof!
Moral of the story - Mere art direction dost not a movie make.
Cate Blanchett is brilliant though.
PS: The intelligent person also told me my spellings suck! So I ran Spell-Check for the first time with this post.
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