THE GOOD GERMAN **

Director Steven Soderbergh decided to film this picture, set in Germany in 1945, in the style of films of that era. To that end he used equipment and lighting from that time so the film looks like something you'd see on Turner Classic Movies.

Based on the novel by Joseph Kanon the story is about a well known war correspondent (George Clooney) returning to Berlin to cover the Big Three conference between Truman, Churchill and Stalin. His main reason for returning, however, is to see if he can find the girlfriend (Cate Blanchett) he left when the war started. He's assigned a military driver when he arrives (Toby Maguire) who as it happens is now dating the same woman, who has become a prostitute in order to survive. Her husband was supposedly killed during the war but both the Russians and Americans don't believe it and want to get their hands on him. Why this is and what the wife does or doesn't know is the crux of the film.

The film does have the look of a 40's espionage thriller with the exception of the lush stereo soundtrack and the fact they didn't swear like that in 1940's films. There's also more sexuality in this film than you would have seen then. The biggest problem the film has is that you never really get to understand the characters well enough to care what happens to them, which takes all the tension out of the plot. The other problem the film has is today's younger viewers won't have a clue as to what's going on since for the most part they're fairly ignorant when it comes to history. If you're over 50 and enjoy watching movies on TCM you might give this a look, but it's not something you'll remember for long after watching.