Everyone I spoke to late last year who saw “The Good German” said that, surprisingly, it kinda sucked. I tried to put that out of my mind and, during the opening credits, I thought, They’re all nuts! This movie is gonna’ be great. After the opening credits, I saw what they were talking about. Don’t get me wrong: the credits (and the poster, and the overall look and performance style) are remarkable and Soderbergh (who directed and shot and cut this picture) deserves all the accolades for his genre exercise. Still, somehow, the movie is a drop dead bore. The main problem is the characters. Can’t quite figure out or empathize with our two leads. Too busy trying to unravel the maddeningly twisted plot. One’s mind can’t help but compare this to the material it apes: “The Third Man,” “A Foreign Affair,” “Casablanca,” the middle section of “Gravity’s Rainbow.” And one can’t help but realize how much better that stuff is.
Soderbergh loves and respects the classics but doesn’t do much except make poor copies of them! He reminds me of Bodganovich in his enthusiasm of good old films. PS, how did I ever find your website but I am LOVING IT!