Critic Reviews
Good German, The (2006) Rank 5 Reviews
Expert Review Summary
based on (149) reviews
Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating
Reviews by Score:
FirstShowing.net (Alex Billington)
efilmcritic.com (Peter Sobczynski)
Newsweek (David Ansen)
Attempting a frame-by-frame duplication of Warner Bros. '40s filmmaking--even the extroverted acting style apes the period--Soderbergh has produced a movie so self-conscious that it's drained of all life. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Newsweek (David Ansen)
The Dallas Morning News
The Cinema Source (Stephen Bozzo)
Cinema Source (Staff)
Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
This is Soderbergh's show, and a haunting and hypnotic show it is. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
filmcritic.com (Chris Barsanti)
The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
St. Paul Pioneer Press (Chris Hewitt)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Sighed as a jaded response to a promise of exodus in Steven Soderbergh's "The Good German," it's a phrase rich with context -- the kind of metaphoric one-liner that could have put a 1940s romantic thriller in perspective if it were whispered by an Ingrid ...read the complete Good German movie review at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Onion (A.V. Club) (Scott Tobias)
With a few self-conscious exceptions, Soderbergh makes an earnest attempt to return to that place and time in both history and American filmmaking, and his risk-taking pays fascinating dividends. ...read the complete Good German movie review at The Onion (A.V. Club) (Scott Tobias)
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Philip Martin)
While the title raises the question of whether it is possible to escape atrocity without somehow being complicit with those committing them ... Soderbergh seems infinitely more interested in making an anachronism than a timeless film. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Philip Martin)
iF Magazine (Abbie Bernstein)
All of this makes for a movie that's sort of fun, but so intent on showing off its period flourishes that it lacks soul. ...read the complete Good German movie review at iF Magazine (Abbie Bernstein)
Cinema Signals (Jules Brenner)
50's stylishness through every bombed out alleyway, military office and underground hiding place. Blanchett is deliciously femme fatale, down to her black market stockings. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Cinema Signals (Jules Brenner)
Las Vegas Weekly (Josh Bell)
A rewarding exercise in formalism. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Las Vegas Weekly (Josh Bell)
The Hollywood Reporter (Kirk Honeycutt)
Blanchett gets everything right -- the accent, her German dialogue, the weary sexuality (deliberately reminiscent of Marlene Dietrich) and the amorality her character has embraced. ...read the complete Good German movie review at The Hollywood Reporter (Kirk Honeycutt)
filmcritic.com (Chris Barsanti)
Noirs this good don't come along every day, or even every year. ...read the complete Good German movie review at filmcritic.com (Chris Barsanti)
Chicago Sun-Times (Richard Roeper)
The photography is so beautiful, and the actors make brave choices, and Soderbergh's homage to the films he so obviously loves is done with such grace and passion -- so there's just enough that works to outweigh the major plot concerns. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Richard Roeper)
Groucho Reviews (Peter Canavese)
Still-relevant political observation...[and] a nifty mystery that's a bit too self-conscious for its own good. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Groucho Reviews (Peter Canavese)
Three Movie Buffs (Scott Nash)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Eleanor Ringel Gillespie)
Soderbergh wants us to see post-War Berlin as, in its way, another Chinatown a la Roman Polanski. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Eleanor Ringel Gillespie)
Sun Publications (Chicago, IL) (Josh Larsen)
...a fascinating exercise for cineastes, but it doesn't have a leg of its own to stand on. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Sun Publications (Chicago, IL) (Josh Larsen)
Window to the Movies (Jeffrey Chen)
Film Threat, Hollywood's Indie Voice
Newsday (Jan Stuart)
The Good German is Steven Soderbergh's game attempt to reinvigorate the dense intrigue of classic wartime thrillers like The Third Man with a contemporary, neo-noir edge. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Newsday (Jan Stuart)
Arizona Daily Star (Phil Villarreal)
It's "The Good German," but not "The Great German." ...read the complete Good German movie review at Arizona Daily Star (Phil Villarreal)
Cinema Signals by The Filmiliar Cineaste
Entertainment Weekly (Lisa Schwarzbaum)
The leisure-time viewer will say, ''Hey, this is sort of like "Casablanca," so why play it ...read the complete Good German movie review at Entertainment Weekly (Lisa Schwarzbaum)
One Guy's Opinion (Frank Swietek)
Movie Picture Film (Scott Hoffman)
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) (John Beifuss)
A cold movie that sacrifices so-called 'heart' to achieve a primarily technical effect -- an appropriate strategy for a story about death camp inmates enslaved to produce rockets for the Nazis. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) (John Beifuss)
Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
This is Soderbergh's show, and a haunting and hypnotic show it is. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)
New York Post (Lou Lumenick)
While Clooney and especially Blanchett give solid performances, and McGuire plays effectively against type, the movie is best appreciated as an exercise in vintage Hollywood style. ...read the complete Good German movie review at New York Post (Lou Lumenick)
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
In Film Australia
LA Weekly (Ella Taylor)
Sumptuous, clever and cold. ...read the complete Good German movie review at LA Weekly (Ella Taylor)
Filmjerk.com (Brian Orndorf)
OhmyNews.com (Brian Orndorf)
Soderbergh has been having a helluva time matching his ambition with quality lately ...read the complete Good German movie review at OhmyNews.com (Brian Orndorf)
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (Rick Groen)
Here's what's good about The Good German: The look is fantastic; technically, the movie is a retro marvel. Here's what's bad: The script sucks; it keeps promising to be clever, engaging, subtle and completely fails to deliver. ...read the complete Good German movie review at The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (Rick Groen)
TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
But for all the profane language and sexual frankness, Soderbergh's film is no more cynical or world-weary than its inspirations, and in the end, it feels like a clever trick wrapped around a hollow center. ...read the complete Good German movie review at TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
The Good German, Steven Soderbergh's film noir homage, is nearly perfect when it comes to style and tone, but it concentrates so single-mindedly on the mechanics of the narrative that it loses sight of its characters. ...read the complete Good German movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Flipside Movie Emporium (Rob Vaux)
L.A. Daily News
Lobo Howls (Judith Wolfe)
Greenwich Village Gazette (Eric Lurio)
Philadelphia Inquirer (Gary Thompson)
The Good German doesn't look like a period movie, and it doesn't feel like one. The black-and-white images are thin and garish, with blinding whites that destroy whatever Soderbergh is trying to do with shadow and contrast. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Philadelphia Inquirer (Gary Thompson)
EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)
Yet another failed attempt at noir from Soderbergh (after Kafka and Underneath), a pastiche made of old movie parts that don't fit, trying to bring back the style, glory and pleasure of old studio fare like Casablanca, The Third Man, and Foreign Affair ...read the complete Good German movie review at EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)
Laramie Movie Scope (Robert Roten)
Bangor Daily News (Maine) (Christopher Smith)
The lot of it is pseudonoir. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Bangor Daily News (Maine) (Christopher Smith)
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Ed Blank)
Detroit News (Tom Long)
A history-based, murder-mystery war-yarn that goes round and round in circles. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Detroit News (Tom Long)
Filmtracks (Christian Clemmensen)
DVD Talk (Eric D. Snider)
ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
[ The Good German is] technically astonishing and Blanchett is excellent, but the script is dull and the confusing plot fails to engage. ...read the complete Good German movie review at ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
Los Angeles Times (Carina Chocano)
It does get mired in its obsession with its own style. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Los Angeles Times (Carina Chocano)
Supercala.com (John Venable)
Technically amazing, but not engaging enough to recommend as theater viewing unless you're an arthouse freak. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Supercala.com (John Venable)
MovieMaze.de (Birte Luedeking)
ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
efilmcritic.com (Dan Lybarger)
Jam! Movies (Jim Slotek)
It never transcends being a mere homage. Fun to watch for film geeks though. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Jam! Movies (Jim Slotek)
Film Threat (Mark Bell)
Overall, while the film is a gorgeous, nostalgic cinema experience, and there's definitely a multiple of mini-plots to unravel while you work towards the final resolution, the film comes up as a bit of a dud. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Film Threat (Mark Bell)
Window to the Movies (Jeffrey Chen)
Technically, it's a marvel, but as a soulful viewing experience, it's a muddle. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Window to the Movies (Jeffrey Chen)
Maxim (Pete Hammond)
Who says they don't make 'em like they used to? ...read the complete Good German movie review at Maxim (Pete Hammond)
CHUD (Devin Faraci)
The Good German is an easy movie to admire... but within all that style there's nothing to love. It's a hollow movie. ...read the complete Good German movie review at CHUD (Devin Faraci)
Christian Science Monitor (Peter Rainer)
The Good German is a prime example of a movie made by highly skilled and intelligent filmmakers that nevertheless seems misguided from the get-go. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Christian Science Monitor (Peter Rainer)
South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Laura Kelly)
The Good German plays like Soderbergh's doctoral thesis for film school. But look past the honkingly loud geek factor, and it still works. ...read the complete Good German movie review at South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Laura Kelly)
Newark Star-Ledger (Stephen Whitty)
The movie's aesthetic is divorced from its sensibility. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Newark Star-Ledger (Stephen Whitty)
Toronto Star (Peter Howell)
The Good German is counterfeit coin in search of easy marks. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Toronto Star (Peter Howell)
WaffleMovies.com (Willie Waffle)
Much like a horror movie clone, The Good German looks like Casablanca , but seems to be missing something fundamental underneath it all, that will eventually lead to its horrible destruction. ...read the complete Good German movie review at WaffleMovies.com (Willie Waffle)
Detroit Free Press (Terry Lawson)
Everything about The Good German seems a few degrees off, as if the new map of Europe has somehow altered the latitudes along with attitudes. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Detroit Free Press (Terry Lawson)
E! Online (Alex Markerson)
They don't make 'em like they used to, and The Good German is a very good reason why. ...read the complete Good German movie review at E! Online (Alex Markerson)
MovieFreak.com (Sara M. Fetters)
I just wish I would have cared about the people walking around in this world as much as I marveled at the spectacle assembled to put them there. ...read the complete Good German movie review at MovieFreak.com (Sara M. Fetters)
TV Guide's Movie Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
Soderbergh's film is no more cynical or world-weary than its inspirations, and in the end, it feels like a clever trick wrapped around a hollow center. ...read the complete Good German movie review at TV Guide's Movie Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
Minneapolis Star Tribune (Colin Covert)
The Good German cannibalizes the cool, cynical look of those great old movies, but it's too spiritually vacant to duplicate their soul. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Minneapolis Star Tribune (Colin Covert)
USA Today (Claudia Puig)
Technically stunning but narratively and thematically hollow. ...read the complete Good German movie review at USA Today (Claudia Puig)
Kalamazoo Gazette (James Sanford)
While the movie has style to die for, its attempt to integrate contemporary dramatic elements -- including profanity and fairly explicit sex -- into old-fashioned filmmaking is only spottily successful. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Kalamazoo Gazette (James Sanford)
Creative Loafing (Matt Brunson)
There's not much beyond self-conscious mise-en-scènes and a lead actor who isn't mysterious or magnetic as much as he's simply aloof. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Creative Loafing (Matt Brunson)
Houston Chronicle (Amy Biancolli)
There's a line between homage and mimicry, and Soderbergh has crossed it. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Houston Chronicle (Amy Biancolli)
Denver Post (Michael Booth)
We get no heroes, not even flawed ones. Clooney, our marquee man, chases through numbing plot contortions only because of his lust for Lena. By the time The Good German ended, I had barely a clue if the good ones had lived or died. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Denver Post (Michael Booth)
Christianity Today (Russ Breimeier)
The Good German suggests that they can still make 'em like they used to, but also reminds us that there's more to a good movie than good looks. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Christianity Today (Russ Breimeier)
Washington Post (Stephen Hunter)
Of The Good German, it can be said that the operation was a brilliant success, even if the patient is not merely dead but most sincerely dead. The movie, in other words, lies there as if on a slab in a morgue, while you admire the corpse for its beauty. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Washington Post (Stephen Hunter)
Los Angeles Times (Carina Chocano)
It does get mired in its obsession with its own style. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Los Angeles Times (Carina Chocano)
Premiere (Glenn Kenny)
I hold Soderbergh in high esteem, but as handsome a technical achievement as it is, The Good German plays to me as a failed experiment. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Premiere (Glenn Kenny)
New York Daily News (Jack Mathews)
If you feel anything other than admiration for its craftsmanship, let me know; The Good German is as emotionally cold and unconvincing as any movie I've seen this year. ...read the complete Good German movie review at New York Daily News (Jack Mathews)
Orlando Weekly (Ian Grey)
With an attention to detail suggestive of a Star Wars fanatic making the ultimate Millennium Falcon model, Steven Soderbergh attempts to create an artifact out of the specifics of the noir genre he periodically revisits when he runs out of ideas. Using ...read the complete Good German movie review at Orlando Weekly (Ian Grey)
Scene-Stealers.com (Eric Melin)
You can't invoke Casablanca and all these other classic[s]...without great dialogue, and this movie has almost none of it. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Scene-Stealers.com (Eric Melin)
Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
Fascinating in concept but a disaster in execution. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
Time (Richard Schickel)
Soderbergh doesn't miss a trick, and for a while it's fun for us to share in his fun. But there comes a moment when his Euro-noir film turns into another sort of exercise for the audience: an exercise in boredom. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Time (Richard Schickel)
The Movie Chicks
Variety (Todd McCarthy)
For actor and director, the project seems like trying on a new coat, and it doesn't fit either of them. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Variety (Todd McCarthy)
USA Today (Claudia Puig)
Soderbergh's homage to film noir and wartime thrillers, is technically stunning but narratively and thematically hollow. ...read the complete Good German movie review at USA Today (Claudia Puig)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (William Arnold)
Far from the worst movie of 2006, but it may be the most disappointing. It should have been wonderful -- a delicious tribute to classic Hollywood -- but it simply doesn't come off. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Seattle Post-Intelligencer (William Arnold)
FilmJudge (David Mercier)
About.com (Jurgen Fauth)
It's hard to feel for the characters' fate when you're counting the ways in which The Good German rips off Casablanca . ...read the complete Good German movie review at About.com (Jurgen Fauth)
The New York Times (Manohla Dargis)
In his genre pastiche The Good German, Steven Soderbergh has tried to resurrect the magic of classical Hollywood, principally by sucking out all the air, energy and pleasure from his own filmmaking. ...read the complete Good German movie review at The New York Times (Manohla Dargis)
Boxoffice Magazine (Wade Major)
Ambitious but sorely disappointing. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Boxoffice Magazine (Wade Major)
Pop Syndicate (Stefan Halley)
Lots of style almost covers up for little substance. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Pop Syndicate (Stefan Halley)
Empire Magazine [UK]
thelondonpaper (Julia Buckley)
Buddies Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney started out so well. But The Good German is so painful that their recent decision to go their separate ways really merits a gospel choir. ...read the complete Good German movie review at thelondonpaper (Julia Buckley)
Metro Weekly (Washington, DC) (Randy Shulman)
If it weren't for a singular, gripping performance by Cate Blanchett, The Good German might as well have been titled The Incredibly Boring German . ...read the complete Good German movie review at Metro Weekly (Washington, DC) (Randy Shulman)
Empire (Ian Freer)
This should have been Soderbergh gold. Instead it is mostly unengaging and dull, proof positive that they don't make them like they used to. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Empire (Ian Freer)
Orlando Sentinel (Roger Moore)
This cast almost makes The Good German watchable. It's just that their screenwriter and director don't do them any favors. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Orlando Sentinel (Roger Moore)
Village Voice (J. Hoberman)
However flavorsome though, The Good German is seriously deficient in the stars' star power and narrative excitement. The movie is lovingly framed, carefully lit, and fatally insipid. The direction is slack; the pacing is perfunctory. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Village Voice (J. Hoberman)
The Independent (Anthony Quinn)
Freeze Dried Movies (Brian Juergens)
It's experimental, so conduct an experiment of your own: go see the film, and when you wake up at the end, try to remember if you dreamed in black-and-white or in color. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Freeze Dried Movies (Brian Juergens)
The New Republic (Stanley Kauffmann)
I could have managed to bear all the film's shortcomings if it weren't for Clooney. Where was he during the making of this film? His face is there, he knows his lines, he moves as needed, but any traces of the intelligence and rapport, the subtlety and ...read the complete Good German movie review at The New Republic (Stanley Kauffmann)
Chicago Tribune (Michael Phillips)
The Good German is just stiff. When Soderbergh tries one of those patented swoop-in-on-the-diagonal moves at a key dramatic moment, the effect is comic. And at that precise moment, the story starts dying a slow, oxygen-deprived death. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Chicago Tribune (Michael Phillips)
Boston Globe (Ty Burr)
There's a great movie somewhere in The Good German, but it's buried under three tons of run-amok formalism. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Boston Globe (Ty Burr)
Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)
Tobey Maguire, terribly miscast and squeaky (that voice - it belongs to a kid!). ...read the complete Good German movie review at Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)
San Jose Mercury News (Bruce Newman)
Mark Reviews Movies (Mark Dujsik)
Salon.com (Stephanie Zacharek)
With The Good German, Soderbergh -- generally a terrific and creative filmmaker -- apes a style, and a way of seeing, that he clearly doesn't understand. It feels like a hit to the stomach. ...read the complete Good German movie review at Salon.com (Stephanie Zacharek)
Wolf Entertainment Guide (William Wolf)
Boxoffice Magazine
Los Angeles Times (Carina Chocano)
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Boulder Weekly (Thomas Delapa)
Achtung: Can you say 'It's Berlin, Jake' in German? ...read the complete Good German movie review at Boulder Weekly (Thomas Delapa)
World Socialist Web Site
Harvey S. Karten
The Seattle Times (Moira Macdonald)
The Phantom Tollbooth
The New York Times (Manohla Dargis)
Preview Family Movie Review
ReelTalk (Betty Jo Tucker)
Foote on Film (John H. Foote)
San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
Blanchett's performance is Soderbergh's biggest mistake. He either encourages or permits her to play Lena as a Greta Garbo caricature, which is mildly amusing if you're interested in Garbo, but if you're interested in Lena and The Good German, you're out ...read the complete Good German movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
Gorilla Pants (Melissa Prusi)
KYW Newsradio (Bill Wine)
San Diego Metropolitan (Jean Lowerison)
San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
Political Film Society
Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
New York Times (Manohla Dargis)
Steven Soderbergh attempts to resurrect the magic of classical Hollywood, principally by sucking out all the air, energy and pleasure from his own filmmaking. ...read the complete Good German movie review at New York Times (Manohla Dargis)
The Movie Boy (Dustin Putman)
Spirituality & Health (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
Planet Sick-Boy (Jon Popick)
TheMovieBoy.com (Dustin Putman)
To say the movie is merely 'boring' doesn't seem fitting or epic enough of a word to describe what an excruciating endurance test its 108-minute running time is. ...read the complete Good German movie review at TheMovieBoy.com (Dustin Putman)
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