The Good German

It would be hard to imagine an homage more faithful than Steven Soderbergh's The Good German, a beautifully crafted tribute to the great romantic thrillers of the 1940s (the film, based on the novel by Joseph Kanon, copies Casablanca and The Third Man in style, both in terms of cinematography and music). Set in devastated and divided postwar Berlin in the summer of 1945, the film focuses on a romantic triangle involving an American war correspondent (George Clooney); his assigned driver (Tobey Maguire), ostensibly an enthusiastic soldier but actually an amoral wheeler-dealer profiting off the black market; and a mysterious German woman (Cate Blanchett). Their relationships are entwined with the jockeying of the two new world superpowers (the U.S. and Russia), both of which are trying to snare the scientists who masterminded the Nazi missile program during the war—a rivalry that involves plenty of double-crosses, surprise revelations, and upper-echelon skullduggery. The Good German isn't terribly deep from a dramatic standpoint, but film buffs will enjoy watching Soderbergh replicate the classics (the final reel, in particular, will resonate with fans of Casablanca), and viewers who aren't bothered by the sheer artificiality will likely find this to be an enjoyable watch. Recommended. (F. Swietek)