Customer Reviews
Glorious Technocolor - By: F. Cotton, 16 Jul 2008 
I've seen previous Clooney/Soderbergh collaborations & have been bemused. (I suspect I'm not clever enough to 'get' them). With this latest offering I have to ask why in an age of glorious, realistic & living technocolor, they made the film in Black & White. The film is so visuallly boring that I don't even care about the characters or the plot.
Vacuous pastiche - By: B W, 09 Jun 2008 Technicallly, this is an astonishing achievement. From the opening credits the look of the film emulates a 1940s movie. The lighting, the camera movements, the editing, the use of back projection & painted sets, even the performances have been directed to give the impression that this is a 1940s film. The film is set in 1945, but is that sufficient reason to go to such extraordinary lengths? Well, it could be. The device COULD be a brilliant way of exploring contemporary American politics. There could be a great movie struggling to get out of this mannerist mess. But Soderbergh's film ain't it. Somewhere in there, lurks a fascinating film about American foreign policy, about the dubious morality of America spiriting Nazi war criminals out of Berlin to assist in the burgeoning Cold War. Given most of George Clooney's recent films (Michael Clayton, Good Night & Good Luck, Syriana, Three Kings) it seems likely that's what drew him to the project, but this film avoids any political engagement. What a fine project this could have been if a fraction of the time & effort that was spent on getting the look so perfect had been spent on the script.
And the casting? Kate Blanchett is always good value, though what she's doing here is baffling. Clooney looks like Clooney. And Toby McGuire? Less said the better. At least Clooney & Blanchett seem to have watched the films Soderbergh was imitating. But Spiderman in 1940s army uniform doesn't quite hack it.
The first 5 minutes would make a great film school show reel, but after the initial promise, it simply goes nowhere. In short, The Good German is nothing more than vacuous pastiche.
Definitely worth a watch but could have been better - By: M. I. R. Clarke, 04 Jun 2008 
Just about able to give this the 4 stars because i thought some of the previous reviews were a bit harsh. This is a complex film & at times a bit muddled - certainly lacks the crystal clarity of its inspirations - Casablanca & Third Man. However the acting is very good alll round & there's an authentic feel to the scenes & location. The plot could be better resolved, there are a lot of complex personal, nationalistic, moral & political issues - the aftermath of WWW2 in a ruined Berlin, war crimes, national guilt & reparation, the beginnings of the Cold War, economics, weapons & industrial secrets, black market gangsterism & the holocaust. The motives of each of the characters are far from straightforward & Soderbergh ultimately fails to keep the action together in a coherently satisfying whole. Maybe it's because the relationship between Clooney/Blanchette is not properly resolved. Nevertheless i'd recommend you watch it - Blanchette's character is complex & fascinating if more edgy than Ingrid Bergmann - certainly comparisons with Chinatown's Faye Dunawaye are closer - ultimately it's a story about betrayal so a happy ending was unlikely. Thought provoking but flawed.
One Word - By: R. Anderson, 20 Apr 2008 I have written hundreds of movie & book reviews...hundreds. However, this is the first time I could sum up a film with one word, & that word is "crap."
The Good German - A Bad Film - By: C. A. Kennedy, 19 Apr 2008 Having read the book on holiday & NOT BEING ABLE TO PUT IT DOWN I couldn't wait to see the film. Alas, it was truly dreadful. I'm not sure that anyone involved in the making of the film had even read the book, it was so unlike it. The book is thrilling, tender, violent, shocking, ultimately uplifting but the film totallly, totallly fails in almost every aspect. George Clooney is as reliable as ever & Cate Blanchett is lovely but her character is so far removed from the book that its unrecognisable. George - I love you babe, but this is a stinker.
