Issue #40, January 12, 2007

Mayor Ed Koch Goes To The Movies

The Good German (-)

Although this film was slammed by other critics, I decided to see it. I was hoping to see Berlin in the 60s when the Soviets erected the wall dividing the country and hoped even more that the movie would create the intrigue of “The Third Man,” starring the genius actor and director Orson Welles. The Good German had enormous possibilities, but the critics were right. It is terrible.

The story takes place in Berlin after the war when Germany is waiting for the Potsdam Conference to take place and decide its fate. U.S. war correspondent, Jake Geismer (George Clooney), returns to Berlin searching for his former German girlfriend, Lena Brandt (Cate Blanchett), who is now the mistress of the slimy Tully (Toby Maguire). Tully uses his motor pool access to travel everywhere including doing business with Russian General Sikorsky (Ravil Isyanov).

The acting is ridiculous and the script is even worse. Everyone is searching for Lena’s husband, Emil (Christian Oliver). Why? It is the beginning of the Soviet American nuclear rocket arms race and they are sweeping up German rocket scientists. Not a single character is believable with the exception of the Russian sector commander General Sikorsky who is malevolent and part of the Soviet conspiracy to gain total control of Berlin. Other critics mentioned Director Steven Soderbergh’s attempt to convey the atmosphere of Casablanca and capture its memories. The scenes of Berlin had no reality and looked to me like stage settings. The plot made little sense and I could not have cared less about who lived or died.

The intended message was to explain how the Americans and Soviets sought to round up the German Nazi scientists who had been working on rockets for Hitler. Ultimately there will be a terrific film putting it all together, but The Good German is not it. Avoid.

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