THE GOOD SHEPHERD
RYAN: Thank you Universal Pictures for treating us to an advanced screening of “The Good Shepherd.”
CAROLINE: Mmm hmm.
RYAN: And it was very good. Who knew that Bobby De Niro could direct like this? This was epic and gorgeous and sweeping.
CAROLINE: I thought it was just pretty good.
RYAN: I thought it was phenom! You thought it was fair. We knew going into it that it’s uber long – two hours and forty minutes.
CAROLINE: After the second hour passes, it starts to eat at you. And I lost interest.
RYAN: It is too long and I had to waz (aka pee) really badly during most of the film but I didn’t want to miss anything. The performances were terrific!
CAROLINE: Matt Damon was…I guess the word is – understated. He didn’t emote very much.
RYAN: But the character was stoic. And I think Angina Jolie made up for it. She ate the screen!
CAROLINE: Well, she’s gorgeous but she wasn’t in the movie that much.
RYAN: But her scenes were intensely dramatic and impactful. It makes you remember why she won an Oscar. Also memorable moments by Tammy Blanchard as a deaf girl.
CAROLINE: I loved her! She was amazing. And she’s not really deaf in real life.
RYAN: She’s a brilliant actress. I also thought Michael Gambon, Harry Potter’s Dumbledore gave a great perf.
CAROLINE: Sure. Everyone was decent.
RYAN: We disagree about Billy Crudup. I loved him – you didn’t.
CAROLINE: Ugh, his British accent was appalling. Laughably bad.
RYAN: I thought he played it well. And the cinematography and camera work were exquisite.
CAROLINE: I agree with that. But i’m just not as into this movie as you were.
RYAN: It looked beautiful and just seemed very epic to me. The one thing I’m very disappointed in is…
CAROLINE: How ugly the actor who played Matt and Angelina’s son was?
RYAN: Yes!!! Two of the most gorgeous actors in the world: Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie and they cast a fugly guy as the product of their love. Shameful!
CAROLINE: He was so homely. And by the by, if you’re having two actors play themselves in a span of 25 years, you might want to make them age a little.
RYAN: (laughs) So true!
CAROLINE: Note to self: Hire a makeup artist who has expertise in aging. Matt Damon looked to be the same age as his son. It’s ridiculous.
RYAN: He did.
CAROLINE: And all they did was put a few circles under Angelina’s eyes to make her look older. I was like, “Now she just looks tired.”
RYAN: And they left off her lipstick.
CAROLINE: Yeah.
RYAN: The movie jumps around a bit. I’m all for flashbacks in movies, but this one doesn’t go back and forth between the same points. It’s like, every time it jumps time, it’s to a different year – that was a bit confusifying.
CAROLINE: Very hard to follow. There may still be major plot points I didn’t get.
RYAN: Bottom line?
CAROLINE: I liked it for the first hour then I began to fade a little. It got very long and I knew I was missing major points and I knew I wouldn’t really ever figure them out, so (laughs) I just went with that. The direction was good. But it’s not in the running for best picture of the year in my mind.
RYAN: I would love to see it get an Oscar nom. It may not get one, because of political reasons… it’s epic and gorgeous, but you need to be in the mood for intensity and to pay close attention for a long time.
CAROLINE: You miss one line of dialogue and you’re screwed.
RYAN: My best advice is pee beforehand.