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Uncapie Says THE GOOD GERMAN...Isn't!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
Merrick here...
Uncapie sent in a look at THE GOOD GERMAN.
I had a funny feeling about this film when I wrote about its trailer
a while back. Unfortunately, Uncapie’s review seems to bear out my suspicions.
I believe this is the first review we’ve run for this film – it’ll be interesting get a few more perspectives before becoming too skeptical. This being said, I think Uncapie is right: Steven Soderbergh is truly a “hit” or “miss” director, and there’s a chance this may be one of those projects that simply doesn’t come together despite the overall caliber of personalities involved. We’ll see.
Here’s Uncapie…
Soderbergh is good when he's good, bad when he's bad. There's noin-between with this guy. "The Good German" just doesn't cut the sauerkraut.
Based upon the book of the same name, the movie borrows heavily from "Foreign Affair," "The Third Man" and "Casablanca." Set in post World War II Berlin during the Potsdam conference, George Clooney portrays a former reporter and American captain that accidentally stumbles upon his German ex-girlfriend, Cate Blanchette, who is desperately trying to escape her past. Clooney is assigned, a driver in the motor pool, Tobey Maguire, who runs a black market scheme on the side that uses Blanchette's character as a prostitute while he tries to secure a visa for her and her husband in hiding, a former German officer involved in the rocket program the Russian and American sectors desperately both want.
There is nobody you like or care about in this film. Its all paint-by-numbers and been seen before. McGuire comes off delivering his lines as if he was a first time actor in a high school play. I don't know if this was a rushed job for him as he might have been filming "Spiderman 3" at the time, but it sure looks it. Clooney and Blanchette have no chemistry on the screen. They lack the magnetism Bogart and Bergman had in "Casablanca."
One scene that didn't make any sense is when Maguire, with a broken arm, forcibly tries to deliver Blanchette's character to a Russian colonel and Clooney intervenes trying to stop him. Maguire beats the crap out of Clooney with a pipe and drives off with Blanchette. First, if a private ever did that to an officer, the MP's would be on his ass so fast he'd be meat. Second, Clooney outweighs this guy and never fights back. As a matter-of-fact, Clooney gets beat up all through this movie and he only gets one punch in the entire film with the help of a brick.
Another scene is where a dubious American army lieutenant is trying to kill Clooney and Blanchette with his .45 automatic that jams. Twice. First, this guy's a lieutenant. A butter bar. He'd have that gun so well oiled and cleaned because he'd always be caught off guard in a snap inspection by some high ranking officer that would just love to give him a crap detail.
Soderbergh incorporates documentary film into the movie that misses. The use of rear screen projection in several of the driving scenes tries to convey an image that this film could have been made in the late forties or fifties. The set pieces are just that and the audience can see it plainly. The fourth wall illusion is easily broken with the viewer. Especially the moment at the end at the Berlin airport. A direct rip-off of the Ford Tri-Motor scene with Bogart and Bergman if every I saw. The entire back row in the theater I saw it in groaned at that one. You're waiting for Clooney to say, "We'll always have Berlin." Homage, my ass.
I wanted to like this film, but just couldn't.
Uncapie
Based upon the book of the same name, the movie borrows heavily from "Foreign Affair," "The Third Man" and "Casablanca." Set in post World War II Berlin during the Potsdam conference, George Clooney portrays a former reporter and American captain that accidentally stumbles upon his German ex-girlfriend, Cate Blanchette, who is desperately trying to escape her past. Clooney is assigned, a driver in the motor pool, Tobey Maguire, who runs a black market scheme on the side that uses Blanchette's character as a prostitute while he tries to secure a visa for her and her husband in hiding, a former German officer involved in the rocket program the Russian and American sectors desperately both want.
There is nobody you like or care about in this film. Its all paint-by-numbers and been seen before. McGuire comes off delivering his lines as if he was a first time actor in a high school play. I don't know if this was a rushed job for him as he might have been filming "Spiderman 3" at the time, but it sure looks it. Clooney and Blanchette have no chemistry on the screen. They lack the magnetism Bogart and Bergman had in "Casablanca."
One scene that didn't make any sense is when Maguire, with a broken arm, forcibly tries to deliver Blanchette's character to a Russian colonel and Clooney intervenes trying to stop him. Maguire beats the crap out of Clooney with a pipe and drives off with Blanchette. First, if a private ever did that to an officer, the MP's would be on his ass so fast he'd be meat. Second, Clooney outweighs this guy and never fights back. As a matter-of-fact, Clooney gets beat up all through this movie and he only gets one punch in the entire film with the help of a brick.
Another scene is where a dubious American army lieutenant is trying to kill Clooney and Blanchette with his .45 automatic that jams. Twice. First, this guy's a lieutenant. A butter bar. He'd have that gun so well oiled and cleaned because he'd always be caught off guard in a snap inspection by some high ranking officer that would just love to give him a crap detail.
Soderbergh incorporates documentary film into the movie that misses. The use of rear screen projection in several of the driving scenes tries to convey an image that this film could have been made in the late forties or fifties. The set pieces are just that and the audience can see it plainly. The fourth wall illusion is easily broken with the viewer. Especially the moment at the end at the Berlin airport. A direct rip-off of the Ford Tri-Motor scene with Bogart and Bergman if every I saw. The entire back row in the theater I saw it in groaned at that one. You're waiting for Clooney to say, "We'll always have Berlin." Homage, my ass.
I wanted to like this film, but just couldn't.
Uncapie
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All the different kinds of projects he does, the way he tests the art-form..
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.....is an alive German. Except the ones that shot at me Grandad. And Jurgen Klinsman. And David Hasselhoff.
Film sounds OK BTW. -
Although a few years ago I had this German neighbor who was always trying to get my brother and me to give her a bukkake. She was a pretty good German, too.
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neat
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It's not gonna be a movie for the masses for all the reasons Uncapie details. That said, I think it's gonna be a major fetish object for classic film lovers. When the vintage Warners logo came up, I wanted to cheer. The film is STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL from top to bottom. Clooney and especially Blanchett are perfectly cast in their golden-era roles (though, as mentioned, Maguire just doesn't work -- like it in theory, doesn't work on the screen). It's cold, yes. But it's freakin' NOIR, people. Those films aren't exactly known for their warmth. (And Uncapie missed the boat if the plane scene at the end was the only overt reference he got. The thing is RIDDLED, purposely, with noir plot elements -- right down to the killer whose gun jams and the hero who gets the tar beaten out of him at every turn (both points Uncapie attacks for bad logic -- a good indication that he isn't exactly the audience that will appreciate this film, or at least wasn't in the right frame of mind while he was watching it).
I will say that what I really think THE GOOD GERMAN lacks is the colorful supporting cast. THAT's where you tended to get the "entertainment value" in the old flicks. The Peter Lorres and Sidney Greenstreets and Edward G. Robinsons and all the lesser-known faces that would pop up for a bit of bold, pulpy fun amidst the angst and adventure. In here, you get Leland Orser as a district attorney and Beau Bridges as a general... but neither get the fun stuff to do. (Too bad, because Orser in particular is perfect for the role. A shame he's totally buttoned-up.) Not sure why Soderbergh didn't work this angle. Maybe the material handcuffed him? But the lack of this kind of diversion really derails the style of the film for me -- instead of being a new 40s noir, it becomes a new 40s Italian neorealist film. Which is fine... but they're not the same kind of film. That's the disconnect for me.
That said, as someone who still watches as many 40s film as he does current films, I eagerly await seeing this again on the big screen. It's not a successful experiment but, for the right crowd, it's a thing of beauty nonetheless. -
My goodness he is the most overated actor in Hollywood. Seriously people, he's really awful. Even his screechy "i just hit puberty" off key voice makes me want to punch him in the neck. Only one review though. Still hoping.
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Katja Kassin is hot, agreed.... just curious though: In what bizarro world does 2 people constitute a bukkake?
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They could take it to 21 easily!
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That said, yes, YND, I agree that this was trying to be a noir film. I've seen enough of them over the years. The spider woman, femme fatale, the hero that gets accidently thrown into something that ultimately becomes his undoing, etc. But, copying a film noir style and telling a film noir story are two different things. This film is riddled with weak spots. For instance, if you see it again SPOILER when Blanchette is shot in the back by the lieutenant, she's pretty much dead. Later on she's seem running through the parade crowd with her husband holding her bloody stomach. Theoretically, a shot in the back exiting through the stomach would have blown out most her her intestines and she would have died. Later, we discover its a shoulder wound. Continuity problem here. If Sonderbegh was going for the film noir, then she would have died in Clooney's arms i.e. "Chinatown." END SPOILER. While I admire what Soderbergh was trying to do, he could have picked a better story. This movie is made for a selected few, it won't play with today's audience that well. Today's audince will piss and moan because he used rear screen projection in certain places and that the effects suck. You and I know, those images were a product of their time. Film Noir movies were made of a certain calibre and in a certain period. That's why they worked and many of them are classics. this one, sadly, misses its mark.
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Here's the deal... My neighbor was poking around in my apartment and she found a facial-themed porno. She then asked if my brother (who was visiting at the time) and I liked bukkake and if we would like to try that with her. I don't think she was attempting to redefine bukkake as a two-man effort, but was merely trying to get things started. From what I could here through the walls, I think she had more than enough boyfriends to help out if a bukkake was actually to be scheduled. I declined, because she wasn't really my type (pretty, but she could have lost fifty pounds). Plus then there's the whole "having a sexual experience with a family member present" thing. I do kind of regret never having boned her, though. She was a nice lady.
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oops
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Yes, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, but for someone who's regarded as not just a master filmmaker, but an AUTEUR, I'd be hard-pressed to find ANY recurring thematics, point-of-view, obsession, or personal insight from one Soderbergh movie to the next. The only thing they have in common is their solid quality and visual style, which should be and probably is enough, in a straightforward, old-studio craftsman kind of way. But is he just a soulless chameleon? It's hard to rectify the arch-ironist of "Schizopolis" with the Martin Ritt wannabe of "Erin Brockovich" with the intense earnestness of "Solaris." Who IS Steven Soderbergh? No insight can be garnered from his actual movies, and that's awfully weird.
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Nov 16, 2006 2:40:48 PM CST
I don't care enough for Soderbergh to read the review.
by derlanghaarige
But I had to come here, because my Bukkake-sensor was ringing. ^_^
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I'm suprisingly not too familiar with Soderbergh's work but i'll say one thing.. I actually couldn't even get through the first 5 minutes of Ocean's 12... terrible...
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hey, BIG surprise. Maybe he should stop trying so hard to do something "original" and "clever", and find a good script and just shoot it. If it isn't anything with "Oceans" in the title, it's esoteric and experimental.
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Haven't seen the film, but I've read the script. And the script is one of the best things I've ever read (and I've read thousands). It's a Paul Attanasio and the guy hasn't written a bad one yet. While I do have doubts about the Maguire casting I just feel as if there's too much stake in the reviewer's "not liking the charaters" thing. Too much stock is put in that kind of thing, especially if the audience for this film won't care as much about that. Agreed, it's a Noir film. Of course no one is likeable. And if it is as beautiful like was described than it still even may be worth seeing. I typically admire Soderbergh even though I agree with the "hit" or "miss" sentiment, but at least he's always interesting.
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Sigh...the man is so frustrating. He makes great fucking movies like Traffic and Out of Sight and Bubble. But for every great movie he makes he puts out drivel like the Ocean movies which are two of the biggest pices of shit ever put on celluloid. I think he's making a third too for fuck's sake. Part of his prblem is his unholy obsession with fraking Julia Roberts. What the fuck is he doing even associating with such a terrible, painfully mainstream puke inducing actress like her? I mean Erin Brockivich was decent but I would rather dip my balls in acid than ever watch it again.
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Anyone who says that movie isn't boring is a fucking liar. I love Soderbergh -- hell, his misunderstood SOLARIS is my single favorite film (yes, flame me now, bitches) -- but Syriana was so boring it couldn't even put me to sleep. It was beyond boring.
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Syriana is boring but Solaris isn't? That makes sense.
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...and, in retrospect, i think the only film of his i really really liked was 'out of sight.' not too much wacky-cam, nice flashback-flashforward, a bit gritty but not over the top, and fuckin' sexy as hell. the only good thing jennifer lopez ever did. one of the best things clooney ever did. and i guess 'sex lies' was pretty good, but just didn't have the charm and flair of 'out of sight.' ever since then, it feels a bit like soderbergh's like, 'hey! hey, guys! over here! check my shit OUT!' i also got the heebies from the 'german' trailer. something just felt wrong about it.
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that this movie is bad. it's impossible.
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You said it, Bodet. Looks like a bad 3rd man remake.
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Already? Shall I say... too soon?
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sounds as stupid as an anteater.
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1. Blanchett. No E. 2. That review exceeded its allotment of commas. Yes, I'm a big jerk.
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"They lack the magnetism Bogart and Bergman had in "Casablanca."" so a movie is bad if it's components don't match up with Casablanca? sheesh.
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that up up and away thing is HORRIBLE, why can't you just let it die?
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Nov 16, 2006 10:32:42 PM CST
I know a little German. He's standing right over there
by osmosis jones
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... had in Casablanca?" Well, that is a real fuggin litmus test, ain't it? That really narrows it down, I would suppose, to - let me think - pretty much everybody in the history of the known universe who ISN'T Bogart and Bergman in "Casablanca" -- Jesus Jumping Portato Fritters!
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Tobey Maguire is NOT a good actor.
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Anyone that argues that BUBBLE was beter than average (great amateur acting, bullshit plot) gets a timeout.
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Dad, U.S.A.A.F. Me, U.S.A.F. Plus, a close friend of mine who is now 79, was in the Allied Occupational Forces, Army, in Berlin from 1945-1947.
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Next time I'll use the analogy of Padme and Annikin. We all know how romantic that was. Such performances. If you're blind in one eye and can't see out the other. Philistines.
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I'd actually say he's more consistantly mediocre than anything. Most of his movies are watchable and totally forgettable. Its rare that one of his movies strikes me as memorably good or bad. I hated Ocean's 11 and didn't see the second one, but that's because I hate this kind of movie. But the Ocean's franchise seems really popular with mainstream audiences that like formula action comedies like Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Bad Boyz.
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i don't understand the hate for them. clearly they weren't aspiring to be great cinema, so why all the fuss?
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They're clever fun for the first halves but then they turn ridiculous. I mean Ocean's 12? The climax of the movie was Julia Robert's character pretending to be herself, the actress Julia Roberts, to rob a museum or whatever. That's lame on so many levels it's sad.
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comparing Ocean's 11 to Bad Boys? Michael Bay vs. Soderbergh? "The Rock" vs. youngest Sundance winner ever for Sex, Lies and Videotape? jesus, talkbackers can be dense...
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...the movie poster (and even that is a rip off of Casablanca).
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There are some minor changes and it went into a more detail. That's to be expected though. We don't need a six hour mini-series. If Clooney and McGuire had reversed the roles that they portrayed, I could have bought into it. The private was a thug, but a smart thug who knew how to manipulate the system in the four different sectors. I don't want to give too much away, but the book was better than the movie. Plus, the film was in the can for over a year. That says something as well.
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