Directed by:
Steven SoderberghScreenplay:
Paul AttanasioCinematography:
Steven SoderberghComposer:
Thomas NewmanCast:
Cate Blanchett, George Clooney, Tobey Maguire, Beau Bridges, Leland Orser, Tony Curran, Jack Thompson, Christian Oliver, Robin Weigert, Ravil Isyanov (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
Who knows what American journalist Jake Geismer (George Clooney) expected to find in postwar Berlin? Peace, maybe. Or at least a story. But certainly not Lena (Cate Blanchett), his beautiful, embittered one-time love. And not the trail of secrecy and deception that leads from Lena to the scheming young corporal (Tobey Maguire) who's her new lover...and to a murder no one seems interested in solving. Except Jake. Steven Soderbergh directs three of today's top talents in this zigzag thriller that's both an atmospheric homage to 1940s filmmaking and a deft modern film noir. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (2)
It’s something between A Foreign Affair, Witness for the Prosecution, and Charlotte Gray. We of course also get Germany in year zero. Let Casablanca sleep if you want to talk about the style of the post-war 1940s and films from bombed-out Berlin... Personally, I was very skeptical about The Good German because of the cast, but in the end, I have to admit that at least Clooney proved to me that he's not just a star. On the other hand, I began to have doubts about Maguire. However, the fact that Cate is the new Katharine Hepburn was already confirmed in The Aviator. In fact, she could now play all of her films in her own style and participate in exact copies of her actual films. Simply more films that leave the retro label far behind and meld it into enjoyment.
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Steven Soderbergh is playing with the form and couldn't care less about the story. As a fan of Hitchcock's films and film noir in general, I like the elements he uses, such as the black and white cinematography, the use of archival footage, and the overall visual style reminiscent of the 1940s and 1950s. However, that doesn't change the fact that Clooney's acting sometimes feels like a parody. The story itself is quite boring and doesn't have anything to captivate you. Were there really no German actors available?
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