Movie: The Good Shepherd

[butterfly]

So, I'm with my mom for Christmas Eve (I'll be with my dad for Christmas proper), and things are going well so far. Sammy came with me and he's had great fun getting to know new people. My cousin is here, along with his fiancee, who seems sweet, clever, and pretty.

Last night, we went to see The Good Shepherd. I really found it quite fascinating, though my companions found it slow. For me, it really worked as something of a tragic character exploration. Its focus is on Matt Damon's character, Edward Wilson (based in part on the real-life director of counterintelligence, James Angleton), and how he is driven by his paranoia and secrets. Edward is an extremely self-contained character, more so than any other character that's Matt's played (and he's played a few). He's told that he can never trust another person and comes to fully believe it, over the course of the film.

It could definitely be argued that the film was long, yet I'm not sure which parts that I would cut out, as the pieces are all connected. I wasn't tired of watching the movie when it was over, and that's how I judge whether the movie is too long for me. This one wasn't. I was as intrigued by Edward at the end of the movie as I'd been at the beginning and found the entire journey very interesting.