[5]

George Clooney and Cate Blanchett star in Steven Soderbergh’s homage to war-time film noir, right down to the black and white 4×3 Academy aspect ratio. Clooney plays an American military journalist who tries to figure out who shot his driver (Tobey Maguire) in Berlin, after Germany fell but before the atomic bomb. Then Clooney discovers he and Maguire have bedded the same woman, a German Jew played by Blanchett. And then Clooney discovers that Blanchett’s character is wanted by the Soviets, Americans, and the British. The Good German is a mystery wrapped in an enigma inside a riddle, and I’d be lying if I said I could follow it all the way through to the end or that I even enjoy these kinds of head trip mysteries. There’s little action, but tons of style — shades of The Third Man and Casablanca abound. And if you ever needed more evidence that Cate Blanchett is an angel sent from movie heaven, this is it. With Beau Bridges, Leland Orser, and Christian Oliver.

Oscar Nomination: Best Score (Thomas Newman)