The Good German - 2006 - Steven Soderbergh

Jake Geismer(George Clooney) is an American military journalist in Berlin to cover a post-war conference in Potsdam. Shortly after his arrival he runs into Lena Brandt(Cate Blanchett), a woman with whom he had an affair before the war. Lena is having an affair with Jake's driver Tully(Tobey Maguire). Tully is trying to get papers so he can get Lena out of Germany when he finds out that the Americans are looking for Lena's husband Emil. Lena says that Emil died in the war so Tully tries to bluff the Russians into giving him money and papers in exchange for Emil. In the process of making the deal. Tully ends up dead in Potsdam. Jake is there when the body is discovered and takes it upon himself to find out who killed Tully and why. Jake finds that he is not safe in any zone and he cannot trust anyone.

Steven Soderbergh is a man that has always been willing to experiment. In The Good German Soderbergh is attempting to make an old fashion Hollywood story using old fashion Hollywood techniquies. He uses old style lens, lighting and sound. Sex and language are on a modern level and feel somewhat out of place with all of the attention paid to making the rest of the film feel like a classic. Peter Andrews, the alias Steven Soderbergh uses as a cinematographer, is a master of the camera, but he does not do much is this film. Blanchett and Clooney are both fine but they do not have any chemistry. Overall I will always support a director taking this kind of a risk, even if it falls short of his best work.
7/10