IGN.com|AskMen.com|Rotten Tomatoes|GameSpy|FilePlanet|TeamXbox|CheatsCodesGuides|GameStats|Direct2Drive|Green Pixels
RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Great Big Gift Guide
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • The Vine
  • Forums
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches by subscribing to our Google Subscribed Links profile.
 
Movies / On DVD / The Good German
The Good German

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Email to a Friend
  • Add to List
  • Bookmark and Share
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon

The Good German (2006)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
32 %
Tomatometer

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted: 142

Fresh: 46

Rotten:96

Average Rating: 5/10

Consensus: Though Steven Soderbergh succeeds in emulating the glossy look of 1940s noirs, The Good German ultimately ends up as a self-conscious exercise in style that forgets to develop compelling characters.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language, violence and some sexual content.

Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release: Dec 15, 2006 Limited

Box Office: $891,721

Synopsis: One of mainstream cinema's most tirelessly inventive directors, Steven Soderbergh delivers another big-budget stylistic experiment with THE GOOD GERMAN. This time around, Soderbergh's target is 1940s film noir. Set in postwar... One of mainstream cinema's most tirelessly inventive directors, Steven Soderbergh delivers another big-budget stylistic experiment with THE GOOD GERMAN. This time around, Soderbergh's target is 1940s film noir. Set in postwar Berlin, the atmospheric thriller is based on the acclaimed novel by Joseph Kanon. Frequent Soderbergh collaborator George Clooney plays Jake Geismer, an American military journalist who has returned to Berlin for the Potsdam Peace Conference. Jake's driver, Tully (Tobey Maguire), appears innocent upon first glance, but is in fact a major player in the corrupt Berlin underworld. He's also dating Jake's former flame, Lena Brandt (Cate Blanchett), whose beauty continues to torment Jake. When Tully's cadaver washes ashore one day, Jake is shocked to discover that nobody wants to go public with the news. As much as he'd like to forget about Lena, he can't. Pretty soon, he's risking his life to help her flee the country. In shooting THE GOOD GERMAN, Soderbergh employed many of the actual filmmaking techniques that were used in the 1940s: black-and-white cinematography, elaborately constructed sets, wide master shots, and a sweeping score (compliments of Thomas Newman). The result is a film that looks and feels like it was made in a much earlier era, yet which contains the graphic language and content of an R-rated early 21st-century production. [More]

Starring: George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Tobey Maguire, Tony Curran

Starring: George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Tobey Maguire, Tony Curran, Beau Bridges, Don Pugsley, Robin Weigert, David Willis

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Director: Steven Soderbergh
Screenwriter: Paul Attanasio
Producer: Gregory Jacobs, Ben Cosgrove
Composer: Thomas Newman
Studio: Warner Bros.

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • Trailer
    >
    Exclusive Clip: My Driver Turned Up Dead
    >
    Cate Blanchett
    >
    George Clooney
    >
1 - 4 of 4

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Get This Movie

  • Buy DVD
 
 
 
 
Release:

May 22, 2007

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case - Amaray
  • Full Frame - 1.33
  • Single Side - Dual Layer

Audio:

  • Dolby Surround 5.1 - English, Spansh, French/Quebequois,
  • Dolby Surround Stereo 2.0 - English
  • Subtitles - English, French/Quebequois, Spanish - Optional
  • Subtitles - English - Closed Captioned

Reviews for The Good German

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
Arrange By: Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Jonathan Kiefer
Sacramento News & Review
Ratings Image

No matter that it's based on a book, the movie is more about how the reality of the time was seen through the lens of a Michael Curtiz while he was filming "Casablanca".

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
05/02/08
Brian Holcomb
PopMatters
Ratings Image

The final verdict on this movie is that for all its attempts to replicate the great movies of the 1940s, it fails miserably.

Full Review Source: Murphy's Movie Reviews | comment Comment
07/14/07
Ted Murphy
Murphy's Movie Reviews
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound
Ratings Image

While admirable as an example of directorial innovation and homage, The Good German fails to connect on a basic emotional level.

Full Review Source: Aisle Seat | comment Comment
05/23/07
Mike McGranaghan
Aisle Seat
Ratings Image

A homage to the romantic noir mysteries of the 1940s, a tribute that tries hard but, alas, misses the mark.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
05/23/07
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com
Ratings Image

Flat noir homage.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
05/22/07
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Ratings Image

Buddies Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney started out so well. But The Good German is so painful that their recent decision to go their separate ways really merits a gospel choir.

Full Review Source: thelondonpaper | comment Comment
03/30/07
Julia Buckley
thelondonpaper
Ratings Image

It's Soderbergh's commitment and creativity that lift The Good German above many of its peers, no matter the era.

Full Review Source: UGO | comment Comment
03/24/07
Brian Tallerico
UGO
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment Comment
03/17/07
Philip French
Observer [UK]
Ratings Image

It's an achievement so hermetic it hardly bothers to be a movie.

Full Review Source: Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) | comment Comment
03/15/07
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Ratings Image

It's an achievement so hermetic it hardly bothers to be a movie.

Full Review Source: Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) | comment Comment
03/15/07
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
03/10/07
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Ratings Image

It's "The Good German," but not "The Great German."

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
03/09/07
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star
Ratings Image

While the title raises the question of whether it is possible to escape atrocity without somehow being complicit with those committing them ... Soderbergh seems infinitely more interested in making an anachronism than a timeless film.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
03/09/07
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
03/09/07
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Why emphasise flaws in a film of such overall ambition and expertise?

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
03/08/07
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
03/08/07
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

[The Good German is] technically astonishing and Blanchett is excellent, but the script is dull and the confusing plot fails to engage.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
03/08/07
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
Ratings Image

This should have been Soderbergh gold. Instead it is mostly unengaging and dull, proof positive that they don’t make them like they used to.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
03/07/07
Ian Freer
Empire Magazine
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
all

Latest News for The Good German

July 20, 2007: Catalina Sandina Morena Joins Soderbergh's Che Films
Did you know that Steven Soderbergh was making a movie about Che Guevara? Starring Benicio Del Toro in the title role? Yeah, me too. But somehow I missed the news that he was... More...

December 19, 2006: RTIndie: Suit-Seeking Bob Dylan Isn't the Only One Against "Factory Girl"
Much has been made lately of singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's demands to screen the Weinstein Co.'s upcoming Oscar hopeful, but it's only the latest in a growing trend of troubling... More...

December 18, 2006: Box Office Wrapup: Moviegoers Get Jiggy with "Happyness"
Box office heavyweight Will Smith scored his sixth consecutive number one opening this weekend with his new rags-to-riches drama "The Pursuit of Happyness" which raced... More...

December 14, 2006: Box Office Guru Preview: Dragons and Webs Duke It Out at Theaters
Hollywood studios try to inject some juice into the North American box office this weekend by unleashing three big new releases aimed at getting people back into the habit of... More...

See More Topics...

Related Forums for The Good German

This a good movie that got a bad rap from critics
by: hotpinksky 5/26

The Good German & The Third Man
by: geohab 12/25/07

The Good German - Soundtrack Review
by: tounka 4/21/07

Darko, Donnie
(2006/B&W)-THE GOOD GERMAN is just that ... good. A Casablanca-style story in Berlin!
by: Darko, Donnie 1/24/07

A Good, But Not Great, Throwback to 1940s Film Noir
by: MH and THE MOVIES 12/28/06
See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
FRESH: 1 83% Tropic Thunder
FRESH: 2 96% WALL-E
FRESH: 3 89% Kung Fu Panda
FRESH: 4 88% Hellboy II: The Golden…
ROTTEN: 5 53% Get Smart

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
FRESH: 73 73% Wanted
FRESH: 66 66% Chronicles of Narnia: …
ROTTEN: 54 54% Step Brothers
ROTTEN: 32 32% The X-Files: I Want to Believe
ROTTEN: 38 38% The Longshots

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

The Spirit

The Spirit

Behind the scenes video: Creating Central City. ...

Little Ashes

Little Ashes

Watch Rob Pattinson as Salvador Dali!

Holiday Preview

Holiday Preview

Read up on this season's biggest films!

Nobel Son

Nobel Son

Watch Eliza Dushku in this red band trailer.

More Info

RT To Go

Get this widget! Movie Reviews

Around The Network

  • The Good German at Rotten Tomatoes
  • The Good German at IGN
  • The Good German at AskMen
 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | ModCenter | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2008, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.