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 Shepherd
The Good Shepherd

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 Shepherd (2006)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
56 %
Tomatometer

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted: 161

Fresh: 90

Rotten:71

Average Rating: 6.1/10

Consensus: This fictitious CIA origin film is an overlong, tedious effort that leaves viewers with more questions than answers.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for some violence, sexuality and language

Runtime: 2 hrs 48 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release: Dec 22, 2006 Wide

Box Office: $59,839,040

Synopsis: With THE GOOD SHEPHERD, Robert De Niro (A BRONX TALE) makes an ambitious return to the director's chair. A labor of love for Oscar-winning screenwriter Eric Roth (FORREST GUMP), the film tells an epic, fictionalized account of how the... With THE GOOD SHEPHERD, Robert De Niro (A BRONX TALE) makes an ambitious return to the director's chair. A labor of love for Oscar-winning screenwriter Eric Roth (FORREST GUMP), the film tells an epic, fictionalized account of how the Central Intelligence Agency was born. Matt Damon plays Edward Wilson, a reserved young man who graduated from Yale in the late 1930s. His membership in the exclusive, hidden Skull and Bones society led him away from poetry and into a relationship with the federal government, who recruited him to help them on several covert operations. Roth's script alternates between Wilson's gradual emergence as a genuine government operative in the early 1940s and the infamous Bay of Pigs conflict in the early 1960s. Along the way, he has a sweet romance with a pretty deaf girl (a sparkling Tammy Blanchard) and ends up marrying the woman he impregnates (Angelina Jolie) out of a strong sense of duty. Throughout the film, the emergence of a mysterious tape haunts Wilson, who is determined to uncover the truth behind a leak in his secret organization. Production designer Jeannine Claudia Oppewall (L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN) and costume designer Ann Roth (THE ENGLISH PATIENT, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY) faithfully recreate these earlier periods in American history, while the imagery of Oscar-winning cinematographer Robert Richardson (J.F.K., THE AVIATOR) casts a warm, stately glow upon De Niro's assembled cast of luminaries (including Alec Baldwin, Michael Gambon, William Hurt, Billy Crudup, and Joe Pesci). The result is a production that recalls Francis Ford Coppola's THE CONVERSATION and Steven Spielberg's MUNICH. [More]

Starring: Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Joe Pesci, John Turturro

Starring: Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Joe Pesci, John Turturro, Alec Baldwin, Michael Gambon, Billy Crudup, William Hurt, Liya Kebede, Gabriel Macht, Jason Patric, Eddie Redmayne, Sándor Técsy, Keir Dullea

Director: Robert De Niro

Director: Robert De Niro
Producer: Jane Rosenthal
Studio: Universal Pictures

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • Trailer
    >
    Exclusive Clip: English Intelligence
    >
    Milt Bearden
    >
    John Turturro
    >
  • Matt Damon
    >
    Robert De Niro
    >
1 - 4 of 6

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Get This Movie

  • Buy DVD
 
 
 
 
Release:

Jun 1, 2008

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Snap Case
  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.40
  • Single Side - Dual Layer

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English, French
  • Subtitles - English (SDH), French, Spanish - Optional

Additional Release Material:

  • Alternate Scenes - Deleted Scenes

DVD-ROM:

  • Weblink - Consumer Offer to Download a Free Movie Ticket ($7.50 Value).

Reviews for The Good Shepherd

  • 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 9 >> >|
Arrange By: Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
Ratings Image

You will probably come away from it impressed but unmoved.

Full Review Source: BrandonFibbs.com | comment Comment
02/28/08
Brandon Fibbs
BrandonFibbs.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | comment Comment
01/15/08
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons
Ratings Image

Damn near drowns itself with its unwaveringly solemn sense of importance

Full Review Source: Projection Booth | comment Comment
10/25/07
Rob Humanick
Projection Booth
Ratings Image

Seems thoroughly conflicted about whether it actually buys what it's selling.

Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness | comment Comment
06/27/07
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness
Ratings Image

publici "Dobri pastir" ne govori ni%u0161ta %u0161to ona, na ovaj ili onaj na%u010Din, ve%u0107 nije znala

Full Review Source: Index.hr | comment Comment
06/22/07
Dragan Antulov
Index.hr
Ratings Image

A pesar de su extensa duración, la película no parece tener un minuto de sobra. El relato es apasionante, y está servido por un actor-director que ha aprendido mucho de sus maestros.

Full Review Source: Uruguay Total | comment Comment
04/27/07
Enrique Buchichio
Uruguay Total
Ratings Image

In a mystery worthy of the CIA, The Good Shepherd ends up being both too long and too short.

Full Review Source: UGO | comment Comment
03/24/07
Brian Tallerico
UGO
Ratings Image

Not quite unlocking the secret history of the CIA.

Full Review Source: WBAI Web Radio | comment Comment
03/21/07
Prairie Miller
WBAI Web Radio
Ratings Image

The Good Shepherd tells a compelling, complex, personal and political story and tells it extremely well. It's an engrossing film.

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
03/20/07
Emily S. Mendel
culturevulture.net
Ratings Image

Apropriadamente mergulhado em sombras e belíssimas imagens em contraluz, é o segundo trabalho de De Niro como diretor, que revela, aqui, um olhar inspirado para composições e, como já era de se esperar, um talento inegável para a condução do elenco.

Full Review Source: Cinema em Cena | comment Comment
03/16/07
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
Ratings Image

Better than any of the feature film versions of John le Carre's novels and nearly as good as the TV mini-series based on Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People.

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment Comment
02/26/07
Philip French
Observer [UK]
Ratings Image

It's a film for fans of John Le Carre, rather than Ian Fleming.

Full Review Source: Independent on Sunday | comment Comment
02/26/07
Nicholas Barber
Independent on Sunday
Ratings Image

Never manages to create a gripping strand to hold our attention.

Full Review Source: Sunday Times (UK) | comment Comment
02/26/07
Edward Porter
Sunday Times (UK)
Ratings Image

Not a film everyone will like. But those who do will appreciate De Niro's insistence on accurate detail.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
02/23/07
Derek Malcolm
This is London
Ratings Image

165 minutes of my life I will never get back, damn it. This is one shepherd that’s lost control of its flock.

Full Review Source: thelondonpaper | comment Comment
02/23/07
Stuart McGurk
thelondonpaper
Ratings Image

De Niro deserves credit for the broad, ambitious canvas he's worked on, but his movie is just as mechanical and humourless as his protagonist.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
02/23/07
Anthony Quinn
Independent
Ratings Image

On paper this had “belter” written all over it. Sadly, Damon’s lifeless performance in the lead role failed to keep me gripped throughout the movie’s bum-numbing 167 minutes.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
02/23/07
Johnny Vaughan
Sun Online
Ratings Image

Touches are just enough to earn The Good Shepherd a third star. But De Niro might want to stick to acting in future.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
02/23/07
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]
Ratings Image

A wan, muted film that is never less than interesting, but rarely more than that either.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
02/23/07
Sukhdev Sandhu
Daily Telegraph
Ratings Image

It's well built but the Matt Damon character remains blank and too young to be convincing. It's solid, but like Damon himself it's a bit dull.

Full Review Source: BBC Radio Five Live | comment Comment
02/23/07
Mark Kermode
BBC Radio Five Live
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
all

Latest News for The Good Shepherd

July 07, 2008: De Niro Looking for More Good Shepherds Opens in new window
It played to lukewarm reviews and middling box office, but Robert De Niro still wants to follow up The Good Shepherd with a pair of sequels. More...

March 04, 2008: Rush Hour 3 Takes '07 DVD Rental Crown
It may not have been quite the box-office phenomenon that its predecessors were -- and critics may have disliked it enough to keep it down at 20 percent on the Tomatometer --... More...

December 20, 2007: Box Office Guru Preview: Five New Films Fight For Holiday Cheer
Moviegoers are in for a feast as studios will unleash a wide menu of new options on Friday trying to reach holiday patrons on the weekend before Santa comes to town. With so... More...

January 15, 2007: Box Office Guru Wrapup: "Stomp" Steps All Over New Releases
Stomping into the number one spot over the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend was the college dance drama "Stomp the Yard," which grossed an estimated $22M in... More...

See More Topics...

Related Forums for The Good Shepherd

explanations, please?
by: mbernstein86 5/17


Why "The Good Shepherd" Title?
by: shambles10 4/10


Only for Patient, Serious Thinkers
by: Pukana La 12/23/07


One Big Question!
by: brimax2 10/16/07


So boring...!
by: Breezer 7/16/07
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 Shepherd at Rotten Tomatoes
  • The Good Shepherd at IGN
  • The Good Shepherd at AskMen
&