The Good German (2006)

The Good German is a good noir film, that tries to be like the old noir films, instead of only being inspired by them. The few touches that were not possible then (sexual scenes and swearing) are understandable, though they are also obvious clues that the movie is quite modern.I have not read the book of which this is based, but it does seem to be a story that lends itself perfectly to the film genre. Cate Blanchett's character is a great femme fatale, Clooney's journalist great as the wounded man against everyone, etc. And the world war 2 backdrop lends itself fine, as it is the era where the noir movies were made. So as a film noir project, this is a good one.The story itself is at times interesting, but I often found myself losing a bit interest. Much of the actual investigating happens off screen, which is it bad, as it was the most fun.

It's 1945 Berlin. The city is occupied by the Allies but Japan is still fighting on. American military correspondent Jake Geismer (George Clooney) arrives to cover the upcoming Potsdam peace conference. Tully (Tobey Maguire) is assigned to be his driver. Tully is happy to be working in the motor pool where he can deal in the black market. Lena (Cate Blanchett) is sleeping with him in the hopes of getting out of Germany. Tully gets beaten up by someone looking for Emil Brandt. Lena reveals that Emil is her presumed-dead husband. Jake is shocked to see Lena who was his stringer in pre-war Berlin. General Sikorsky and the Soviets are also looking for Emil. Tully does a deal and ends up dead with a belt filled with money in the Russian zone.This Steven Soderbergh film is done entirely in black and white. It references back to the noir espionage films. The first half is interesting although Tobey Maguire's death does throw it off. He was the protagonist until he's not. There is a few layers of mysteries to Lena but the final layer is less compelling than Soderbergh thinks it is. There are some interesting things happening in this movie but the second half stumbles in a muddle of less-than-compelling reveals.

This picture could have been so much better than it turned out. I was hoping for a good spy picture, and it started out like a possible "Third Man" type story. It was a black-and-white movie set in WWII and with a good cast. I am sorry to report it did not live up to expectations.The main problem was that, like Kate Blanchett's character, it lacked a heart and a reason to root for someone, anyone. In fact, it was a collection of nasty, unattractive people played by charismatic actors in thankless roles. I thought it captured the post-war cynicism and skepticism between the two superpowers, and the incipient rivalry that was to become the cold war, but it needed more character involvement - maybe they shouldn't have killed off Beekman, or gotten more mileage out of Brandt, or used Beau Bridges in more scenes. He and Clooney played well off each other, as they did in "The Descendants". In any case, it wasn't compelling or absorbing enough to merit a higher rating. It was like a 'B' picture that ran too long.

The director wishes to recreate a long lost genre with this film. Using a smaller film ratio rather than a full cinema widescreen view, old style lighting, fixed cameras and filming in black & white, this all hankers back to the glory days of the film noir, in particular classics like "The Third Man".Let's be honest, few of us are really experts in the genre. It's sadly old hat for too many who let it pass them by. Films like "The Third Man" are really compulsory for film lovers, and it's great to see homages made to it. However, this film doesn't succeed.The plot of this film is convoluted to say the least, and takes us on a journey as our main man finds that his re-acquaintance in post-WW2 Berlin with an old flame is no mere coincidence. Add in politics, murder, mystery & intrigue and you have one tricky story. You'll follow the plot enough but for some reason I just found it all too uninteresting at the end. I can't finger it, maybe I couldn't empathise with the characters (despite some good acting by Clooney & Blanchett). Just not sure about it.It's overall far from emulating the best of the old school movies, and it's quite disappointing. Never makes the impression you'd hope despite interesting themes (greed, realpolitik, survival, love etc). Not one I'll likely be looking back on to view again sadly. Hopefully, others will try again in this genre for better.