The Good Shepherd vs The Talented Mr. Ripley

Just as a select few movie stars can suitably portray working class, there is a serious lack of actors who believably convey intelligence on camera. Jodie Foster is one of the best, as is Laurence Fishburne. To that short list, I think we should add Matt Damon. I’m thinking about asking him to do my taxes.

In The Good Shepherd, Damon plays Edward Wilson, a fictionalized version of the man responsible for the C.I.A. His life is one of secrecy, deception, and efficiency. That “I”, however, stands for “intelligence”, and Edward Wilson was a smart man. In Damon’s hands, we never doubt Wilson’s ability to get the answers he gets, or to solve the mysteries he solves. His private life is another matter. In college, Edward had a relationship with a sweet deaf girl (Tammy Blanchard), but is soon in an awkward marriage to a woman he’s probably never loved, and has an awkward son (more on him later) he barely knows and who doesn’t know him at all.

But hey, them’s the breaks when you’re protecting your country, right?

The wife is a wild, rich, erratic young woman named…Clover. First of all, The Good Shepherd is essentially fiction, so it’s not like they were saddled with a figure from history named Clover. In other words, “Clover” is the creation of screenwriter Eric Roth. Secondly, Clover is played by Angelina Jolie, who, let’s face it, is way too much everything to play a woman named Clover. The sweet deaf girl? She can be Clover. The first time I saw Angelina Jolie was in a girl-gang movie called Foxfire. In that one, she played Legs. That’s more like it. Let’s pretend she plays Legs in this one too. Legs is a confusing character, a flirty heiress who pounces on Edward as soon as they’re alone (they’re married soon after), but then becomes a homebody, lonely and jealous of her husband’s exciting life. Legs and Edward see each other roughly every five years, and these occasions are our only opportunity to see Jolie in action. She gives a passionate performance, but I’m afraid much of it is on the cutting room floor.

The movie, despite the presence of Jolie, John Tuturro, William Hurt, Alec Baldwin, Michael Gambon and Billy Crudup, belongs to Matt Damon. Director Robert DeNiro (who also appears in a small role), knows a thing or two about acting, and gives Damon the time and space to create a quiet, emotionally guarded, and most importantly, thinking character. Damon is great. Wilson ages roughly twenty years during The Good Shepherd, and Damon shows this in small ways. It’s aging in terms of demeanor and gravity, rather than graying temples and spare tires. As Wilson ages, his job becomes harder (Cuba is becoming an issue, Vietnam isn’t far behind), as does his family life. Clover, who finally starts going by Margaret around the two-hour mark, is fed up with her life of secrets, lies and single parenting. And their son, Edward Jr., is a fearful, timid wisp of a boy, one who inexplicably winds up in his father’s professional dealings. Edward Jr. is played by Eddie Redmayne, an actor I’m positive we will see good things from in the future. From where I was sitting, we didn’t see many of them in The Good Shepherd. I’m just saying. But that Matt Damon, man is he good.

DeNiro directs The Good Shepherd with an epic sweep similar to movies he’s acted in, like Goodfellas and The Godfather part 2. It’s not as good as those movies, duh, but it’s a compelling story nonetheless. The history of the CIA is bound to be a topic full of unanswered questions, hearsay and conflicting accounts. For the most part, we lucked out with DeNiro as a director. The Good Shepherd is complicated, but not convoluted, and it’s got a hell of a character in a business where it was best to remain anonymous. For the latter, we’ve got to give much of the credit to that smartypants Matt Damon.

This isn’t the first time Matt Damon has shown off his SATs on camera. There is, of course, Good Will Hunting, Ocean’s Eleven, The Departed, Syriana, the Jason Bourne movies, and The Rainmaker, all of which feature Damon as the smartest guy in the room. My favorite Matt Damon role, however, is in The Talented Mr. Ripley, where Matt Damon isn’t just smart, he’s crazy, and we all know that’s not a good mix.

I think The Talented Mr. Ripley is one of the all-time best follow-up movies. Everyone in it was coming off a great success, and for each of them, The Talented Mr. Ripley serves as either a bit of an upgrade, or an opportunity to show us something new. For Anthony Minghella, we saw that The English Patient was no fluke (I think The Talented Mr. Ripley is the better movie, actually. It’s more stylish, and has a touch of wit that’s missing from most period dramas.) For Gwyneth Paltrow, it was a chance to play up the Iconic American Actress thing the press had saddled her with after her Oscar win. She pulls it off. Paltrow comes across like a screen legend in Ripley (she reminds me a bit of Grace Kelly in Rear Window). She’s mostly just there to be pretty and coveted, but she’s given a couple smart scenes near the end that require her to be terrified of Tom Ripley without letting him know.

And Matt Damon was coming off of Good Will Hunting, and was no longer the Next Big Thing. He was it, and really could have cashed in with, say, Armageddon. Instead, he made The Talented Mr. Ripley, and gave one of the best performances of the nineties. What a smart move. Damon shows us a different Tom depending on which characters he’s with. He’s always compelling, no matter if it’s Phillip Seymour Hoffman (brilliant) as the snobby Freddie Miles, Cate Blanchett (beyond brilliant. Better than anything besides finding a twenty in a coat pocket) as a loopy American abroad, or the charismatic Dickie, played by Jude Law.

For the love of God, do not let Jude Law do your taxes.

The Good Shepherd: B
The Talented Mr. Ripley: A