The Good German (2006)

User Rating:
6.1/10 10,507 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 8% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Steven Soderbergh
Writers (WGA):
Paul Attanasio (screenplay)
Joseph Kanon (novel)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Good German on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
14 February 2007 (France) more
Genre:
Drama | Mystery | Thriller more
Tagline:
If war is hell then what comes after? more
Plot:
While in post-war Berlin to cover the Potsdam Conference, an American military journalist is drawn into a murder investigation which involves his former mistress and his driver. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Russian | American | Old Flame | Murder | Military
more
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(16 articles)
John Steinbeck's East of Eden Gets a Director and Writer
(From FirstShowing.net. 14 January 2009, 11:31 AM, PST)
East Of Eden Headed Back To The Screen
(From EmpireOnline. 13 January 2009, 11:22 PM, PST)
User Comments:
Not-so-good German more
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)
Jack Thompson ... Congressman Breimer

John Roeder ... General

George Clooney ... Jake Geismer

Tobey Maguire ... Tully

Cate Blanchett ... Lena Brandt

Dominic Comperatore ... Levi

Dave Power ... Lieutenant Schaeffer

Tony Curran ... Danny

Ravil Isyanov ... General Sikorsky

J. Paul Boehmer ... British Press Aide

Igor Korosec ... Russian Soldier

Boris Kievsky ... Russian Soldier
Vladimir Kulikov ... Russian Soldier
Yevgeniy Narovlyanskiy ... Russian Soldier

Aleksandr Sountsov ... Russian Soldier
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Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated R for language, violence and some sexual content.
Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parents
Runtime:
105 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English | German | Russian
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS
Certification:
Australia:MA | UK:15 | Finland:K-15 | Ireland:15A | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Netherlands:12 | Germany:12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:11 | Argentina:13 | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Brazil:16 | USA:R (certificate #42615) | South Korea:18 | Norway:15
Filming Locations:
Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA more
Company:
Sunset Gower Studios more
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Cate Blanchett studied Marlene Dietrich and Ingrid Bergman in order to play a German character. Ingrid Bergman, however, was Swedish. more
Goofs:
Factual errors: Jeeps from WW2 were all manual transmission with a long gearshift lever. Tulley is seen driving a Jeep more than once after he has his right arm broken. That would have been impossible to do. more
Quotes:
Bernie Teitel: This guy? Drove one of the gas vans. They'd load the Jews in back, run the exhaust inside.
Bernie Teitel: [inhales] By the time they got where they were going, they were already dead. Very efficient. Driving to work, he killed more people than Al Capone in all his years in Chicago. But if you asked him, he isn't a murderer, he's a truck driver. And he still thinks that.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in The Dialogue: An Interview with Screenwriter Paul Attanasio (2007) (V) more
Soundtrack:
You're Some Pretty Doll more
FAQ
Is this movie based on a true story?
more
User Comments
(Comment on this title)
83 out of 125 people found the following comment useful:-
Not-so-good German, 24 January 2007
5/10
Author: char treuse from new york city

A clever look: imitation vintage B-movie in black and white; Steven Soderbergh's appropriate, artful gimmick for this film set in Berlin in the immediate aftermath of WWII.

Cate Blanchett turns in an apt theatrical performance given "The Bad German's" archly retro conceit. As the film's mother/whore femme fatale, Cate is sphinx-like, world-weary and made up like a drag queen at Mardi Gras. George Clooney, meanwhile, turns in his routine performance that is altogether too modern and casual. Put him in scrubs and he's ready again for the ER. Together, they create no chemistry nor any other natural science. Toby McGuire, as a sleazy, black-marketing GI, is so painfully hammy you'll find yourself begging for him to stop.

The storyline is awkwardly developed and unnecessarily opaque, its characters cold and remote. There's really nobody to cheer for or identify with; no emotions to hook us into this world. When was the last time that international intrigue, on-screen, was so unintriguing? It's too bad we've been served such an exciting cinematic look -- an overly lit, noir-like one -- only as window dressing on a story as bleak and dreary as the blitzkrieged landscapes on view.