The Good Shepherd

The Good Shepherd is currently streaming in the US on Netflix, and its case-by-case structure never gets in the way of the bigger story. It says what it needs to say in one sitting, no filler. With 1,305 viewer ratings on TMDB, this is not a title flying under the radar. Matt Damon anchors it, but the writing does the real work. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on Netflix.

The Good Shepherd arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. At its heart, The Good Shepherd understands what makes crime drama work — character first, plot second. Edward Wilson, the only witness to his father's suicide and member of the Skull and Bones Society while a student at Yale, is a morally upright young man who values honor and discretion, qualities that help him to be recruited for a career in the newly founded OSS. His dedication to his work does not come without a price though, leading him to sacrifice his ideals and eventually his family. Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was released in 2006. What makes The Good Shepherd hold up is that the resolution matters less than how the characters get there. There is real craft here, even in the moments that do not fully land.

Crime and mystery fans will find exactly what they are after in The Good Shepherd. It stands on its own even without an obvious comparison point. The complete film is available and best experienced without too much prior knowledge of where it goes. Matt Damon carries scenes that would sink a lesser production. The resolution feels inevitable rather than arbitrary, which is rarer than it sounds.