From one of the Hollywood industry’s greatest names, The Good Shepherd is Robert de Niro’s first movie. This 167-minute-long film stars actors like Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie and takes us through the chaos in the US due to threat of war with Russia.
The Good Shepherd revolves around Edward Wilson, a quiet but smart literature student who ends up becoming a senior CIA officer in a matter of two decades. The storyline showcases Edward playing a huge role in the birth of counterintelligence forces within the CIA due to the increase in dangers surrounding the US.
This Robert de Niro film is loosely based on the life of James Jesus Angleton, the real-life chief of counterintelligence who worked for the US in the 50s. Despite Robert de Niro being the producer & the movie having such good actors, The Good Shepherd wasn’t that big of a hit and was able to collect around $100 million at the box office.
Besides Matt Damon in the role of Edward Wilson, the cast of The Good Shepherd consists of Angelina Jolie as Margaret Clover, Robert as General Bill, Alec Baldwin plays Agent Sam, Joe Pesci plays Joseph Palmi, Tammy Blanchard plays the role of Laura and Eddie Redmayne plays Edward Junior.
The Good Shepherd: What Happens In The Film?
The ’60s were strange times for the US and Edward Wilson, who’s a senior CIA officer, finds out that the USA’s Bay of Pigs invasion had a terrible ending and was a total failure. After coming home, Edward finds mysterious pictures of a couple on his bed along with some random tape recordings.
The Good Shepherd then takes us back to the 40s, where Edward was a literature student and had recently joined a secret society/club called the Skull and Bones. To complete the ceremony, Edward was forced to reveal a secret that he had closely guarded all of his life.
Edward reveals that his father, who was a Navy secretary, had committed suicide. Everyone believed the admiral was caught up in a huge mess or was assassinated, but only Wilson knew what happened on the day of his death.
Sam, an FBI agent, asks Edward to secretly spy on his English professor who he believed was a Nazi sympathizer. Edward successfully reveals Frederick’s truth and gets him out of the university. During this time, Edward runs into a pretty and deaf woman named Laura.
Although they get close, Laura and Edward never fully go that far in their relationship. Bonesman John is another member of the Skull and Bones society and invites Edward to his home for a party. There Edward runs into Margaret Clover, and both of them end up getting intimate on the same day.
Edward is offered a great role in the foreign intelligence department by General Bill Sullivan. Laura and Edward hang out by the beach, but their sweet moment is ruined when John tells Edward that he must now marry Clover as she is pregnant with his child. Laura is great at lipreading, so she just leaves after finding out what Edward and John are talking about.
The war gains traction and Edward finds out that Professor Frederick is a British intelligence operative. Arch Cummings and his men later kill Frederick. Edward has no choice but to collaborate with Ulysses, a soviet officer.
Edward and Ulysses are trade scientists, and he’s later able to spend some time with Hanna, a woman who was secretly a Soviet Operative. When Edward returns home in 1946, nothing is the same anymore. His wife Margaret was cold towards him, and his child Edward Junior was afraid of spending time with him.
The CIA tries to find the real Mironov and forces a suspect to take LSD to reveal the truth, but he just jumps off from the window. Meanwhile, Edward Junior wants to be just like his dad and has become a full-fledged member of Skull and Bones.
The Good Shepherd then comes back to the present (1960s), where Wilson finds out that the unknown photos were taken in Congo. After traveling to Cuba, Edward finds out that Edward Jr. is in love with a woman named Miriam who was sadly a Soviet operative.
The Good Shepherd: Ending Explained
In the end, Edward has no choice but to kill Miriam as she knows their plans and is an undercover agent. Edward already knew that Cummings and Mironov were double agents and had gotten successfully rid of them.
Learning that Miriam was pregnant moves Edward, but he continues to stay patriotic and meets up with Hayes. The new CIA Headquarters had a Biblical inscription that urged Edward to read the note that his father had left behind.
This is when Wilson finds out that his father was a spy, and all those wrongful accusations are right. He also wanted Edward to live a true life and be a good husband, unlike his father. Edward just burns the suicide note and gets ready to work in the new counterintelligence department.
The ending of The Good Shepherd shows Edward realizing that his father was a traitor, and moving on unfazed as he knew he lived a great life unlike him. Wilson was a true agent, who put work before anything else.
This Robert de Niro film is nothing more than a tale that shows what led to the birth of the counterintelligence department in the US, while also showcasing a little life story of Edward Wilson. Although the wars and other historical details are not exactly accurate, the movie still creates an uncomfortable atmosphere filled with urgency.
Ultimately, Edward was only loyal to his work, not his children, wife, or friends. The Good Shepherd is now available to watch on Prime Video.
