The Good German (2006)

I have previously stated that Every Steven Soderbergh film is worth checking out for one reason or another. Whilst I still think that is true, I would like to add that I do not believe that every Steven Soderbergh film will leave you feeling as though you want to check out more of his films. For example The Good German. If this had been the first Soderbergh film I had seen I probably wouldn't watch any more. It's not that it's the worst film I've ever seen, it's not even the worst film I've seen this month, it is however really quite boring.

I get it, I get that the film is being filmed in the exact same way that they made films in the 30s, it's shot with exaggerated lighting, it's got boom mics that follow the actors around, it feels more like a play than a film, and whilst I guess I get that all of this is being done to fit the setting of the film, set shortly after the end of the second world war in Germany, while Russia and America still occupied territory there, but at the same time as getting all this I did spend a lot of the film simply thinking.... Why? When you're a director who is famous for bringing a fresh voice to independent cinema, why would you then go and make a film in the style of someone else, and why would you choose to make it in the style so dull. Also, there are reasons why we moved on from this style. I must again reiterate that I am not against films of the past, I love old films, I also thought that the artist did a similar thing to this film (shot in black and white, silent and with an old fashioned aspect ratio), but it did so without ever seeming dull or derivative and it did so whilst remaining inventive, original and strangely modern.

The story of this film follows classic film noire themes of betrayal, not quite being sure who your friends are, secrets and murder. It does so without any of the style of the films it is trying to pay homage to. It references Casablanca numerous times, some more obvious than others, yet never once comes close to the majesty and brilliance of Casablanca. The performances in this film are all fine. Clooney is his usual great self, Cate Blanchett is fine I guess, though her accent does recall the awful one she put on in the last Indiana Jones film (She's a great actress, but accents may not be her thing), and even Toby Maguire gets away from his boyish image with a character who reveals himself to be quite menacing and mean at times, which came as a pleasant shock.

In short this film was a crashing disappointment, I am a Soderbergh/Clooney/Blanchett fan, and yet I found myself utterly bored through most of this film. It was well staged, well acted, but lacked any spark of intrigue to make it enjoyable. It was just a waste of the talent involved.