The Good German (2006)

Director:

Steven Soderbergh

Writers (WGA):

Paul Attanasio (screenplay)
Joseph Kanon (novel)

Release Date:

14 February 2007 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

If war is hell then what comes after?

Plot:

While in post-war Berlin to cover the Potsdam Conference, an American military journalist is drawn into a murder investigation which involves his former mistress and his driver.

Plot Keywords:

American | Russian | Old Flame | Scientist | Military

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Jack Thompson	...	Congressman Breimer
John Roeder	...	General
George Clooney	...	Jake Geismer
Tobey Maguire	...	Tully
Cate Blanchett	...	Lena Brandt
Dominic Comperatore	...	Levi
Dave Power	...	Lieutenant Schaeffer
Tony Curran	...	Danny
Ravil Isyanov	...	General Sikorsky
J. Paul Boehmer	...	British Press Aide
Igor Korosec	...	Russian Soldier
Boris Kievsky	...	Russian Soldier
Vladimir Kulikov	...	Russian Soldier
Yevgeniy Narovlyanskiy	...	Russian Soldier
Aleksandr Sountsov	...	Russian Soldier

MPAA:

Rated R for language, violence and some sexual content.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | Russian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:MA | UK:15 | Finland:K-15 | Ireland:15A | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Netherlands:12 | Germany:12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:11 | Argentina:13 | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Brazil:16 | USA:R (No. 42615) | South Korea:18 | Norway:15 | Canada:14A (Canadian Home Video rating)

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Sunset Gower Studios

Trivia:

When Geismar checks Lena's file in the Records archive at Military Government headquarters, he discovers only a note in the folder saying the file has been "sent to Overcast." Operation Overcast was the U.S. Army's 1945 operation to bring German rocket scientists (such as Wernher Von Braun) and their families to America following the end of the war. (It was later re-named Operation Paperclip.)

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Upon Geismer's first visit to her apartment, Lena lights the stove and begins heating a kettle. Shortly, she announces she is going to bed, leaving the kettle over the stove's flame (as well as a lit candle on the table).

Quotes:

Patrick Tully: [threatening a Jewish double amputee] Don't you jew me over the price!

Movie Connections:

References Casablanca (1942)

Soundtrack:

Somebody Else Is Taking My Place

Not-so-good German

A clever look: imitation vintage B-movie in black and white; Steven Soderbergh's appropriate, artful gimmick for this film set in Berlin in the immediate aftermath of WWII.

Cate Blanchett turns in an apt theatrical performance given "The Bad German's" archly retro conceit. As the film's mother/whore femme fatale, Cate is sphinx-like, world-weary and made up like a drag queen at Mardi Gras. George Clooney, meanwhile, turns in his routine performance that is altogether too modern and casual. Put him in scrubs and he's ready again for the ER. Together, they create no chemistry nor any other natural science. Toby McGuire, as a sleazy, black-marketing GI, is so painfully hammy you'll find yourself begging for him to stop.

The storyline is awkwardly developed and unnecessarily opaque, its characters cold and remote. There's really nobody to cheer for or identify with; no emotions to hook us into this world. When was the last time that international intrigue, on-screen, was so unintriguing? It's too bad we've been served such an exciting cinematic look -- an overly lit, noir-like one -- only as window dressing on a story as bleak and dreary as the blitzkrieged landscapes on view.