The Good German

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The Good German ★★½ 2006 (R)

A throwback to 1940s noir, director Soderbergh makes it the real deal by only using technology of the era, with mixed results. The black-and-white drama begins during WWII as war correspondent Jake (Clooney) has an affair with the married Lena (an intense Blanchett). After the war ends he returns on assignment with hopes of finding her but is disheartened to see that she's taken up hooking with Tully (Maguire), a boyish pimp who fronts as a motorpool soldier and becomes Jake's driver. The desolate Lena is desperate to leave Germany and her misery behind but can't because the U.S. and Russian governments are searching for her possibly dead husband—a Nazi scientist—who's disappeared. Visually nifty tribute to classic Hollywood might have pulled it off if the story were better. Based on Joseph Kanon's 2001 novel of the same name. 107m/ B DVD . US George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Tobey Maguire, Beau Bridges, Tony Curran, Leland Orser, Jack Thompson, Robin Weigert, Christian Oliver, Ravil Isyanov, Don Pugsley; D: Steven Soderbergh; W: Paul Attanasio; C: Steven Soderbergh; M: Thomas Newman.