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In March I wrote about Soderbergh and the bottom line is--I admire the guy. Greatly.  Peter Travers of Rolling Stone made the point of saying that Soderbergh really made fluff features like "Erin Brockovich" & the "Ocean's 11" trilogy strictly to have the finances and permission to make smaller, independent and more personal films like "The Good German."  It's a process I believe that is liberating.  Just last week I was fortunate enough to sit down and watch his latest indie project: "The Girlfriend Experience" starring porn star Sasha Grey.  Not a bad feat when considering the whopping masterpiece Soderbergh Directed earlier this year: "Che."  Yet, 2006 was a strange year for "The Good German."  It didn't bode well with too many critics and audiences.  It had a dicey Christmas release date and premiered around the same time as Robert DeNiro's similarly titled "The Good Shepard."  To this day, every time I mention "The Good German" someone immediately responds "Oh, that movie was too long & Angelina Jolie is barely in it."  Two things: 1) "German" is less than 2 hours (and is also in black and white!)  & 2)  Jolie is in "The Good Shepard"--not "German."

But now I'm veering off.  Back to Soderbergh's "German": Using solely the camera, sound & lighting equipment available during the heyday of B/W movies (1940s/1950s) Soderbergh purposefully limits himself aesthetically. Without the use of camera zooming (everything is in focus!) or having lava mics (thus just using a boom mic), what "The Good German" becomes is both a throwback to great cinema as well as a return to the old fashioned form of actually Directing.  Static shots often test the limits of direction.  There is no hiding from it.  You can't pull a Michael Bay and manic edit your way out a scene.  As an audience member you notice every shadow, figure, and performance. 

So what's the movie about?  Well the title does not refer to any of its marquee stars. George Clooney plays Jake Geismer, Tobey Maguire plays Tully (more on him in a bit) and the versatile Cate Blanchett plays Lena Brandt.  It's the end stages of the second World War and Berlin is the location for what looks to be a "Casablanca" marginal love triangle between our three leads.  The so called 'good' German character we don't meet until the third act.  Of course, as with any film that touches on noir (this film in particularly is up to its knees in it), nothing is what it seems and as the story unfolds we see character motivations that fuel the story--not the other way around.  Nowadays, writers treat story as a gimmick, a big "Gotcha!" punchline.  In today's films, there is the hostage situation in a hotel or a TV gameshow that plots the points along the way.  It's what we're used to. So if by the end scene of "The Good German," you feel the like the air has been let out, it isn't mistaken.  Here we have a universe chartered by morals, loyalties and hell, even romance.  The climax happens a good 15 minutes before the roll of end credits.  Dénouement was once an academic term you know.

On a final note, I must say that this is Tobey Maguire's film.  I don't know how awards and critics group passed him up on a Best Supporting Actor nod.  Though he has less than half of the screen time of both Clooney and Blanchett, his presence rings throughout the film as much as that of Jude Law's in "The Talented Mr. Ripley" or Rachel Weisz's in "The Constant Gardener."  Some have complained that Maguire's bad soldier boy performance is over the top & campy, but it is exactly what the material calls for.  Soderbergh isn't making "The Crying Game" with his "The Good German," but is lifting the veil of the American cynicism hiding in those classic B/W films.  Maguire is the wretched embodiment of the American dominant male that was muted in every Bogart picture.  I mean he has the balls to call Clooney a "stupid fuck" after beating him senseless outside of a Berlin bar.  You don't need a lava mic for that.

Watch the trailer for Soderbergh's missed gem here.