'Shepherd' requires your utmost attention

In his second directorial effort and his first since 1993's "A Bronx Tale," Robert De Niro takes on the arduous task of creating a convoluted spy movie that must always be two steps ahead of itself. \nSpanning the 1930s through the early 1960s, "The Good Shepherd" tells the story of the ever-quiet but always attentive and patriotic Edward Wilson (Damon) and his role in what would become the CIA. Damon does an excellent job as a man who, because of the forces of his profession and his determined personality, is compelled to lead a double life. Mr. Wilson is first and foremost the working man, putting his tasks ahead of everything else in his life and always out of the country on business. To a much lesser extent, Mr. Wilson is the family man, who is rarely home, was not even present for the first six years of his son's life and only married his wife Clover (Jolie) because of an impulsive one-night stand. \nThe movie begins with Wilson's involvement in the Bay of Pigs invasion and sporadically flashes back to World War II, the beginnings of the Cold War and Wilson's early Yale days when he was recruited into the Skull and Bones society for the country's future leaders. The flashbacks feel disjointed at times, but De Niro understands that a movie about the CIA almost demands such breadth. \nThough the film is tougher to follow than it is clever, there are some intense and well-directed scenes that nearly redeem it and might even help the film achieve an Oscar nod or two. De Niro gives us scenes of cold-blooded murder and physical torture sessions in which the victim is given LSD as a truth serum. Toward the end of the film, Wilson is put in a situation where he must choose between the happiness of his son and the duty of his job. \nTaken as a character study rather than a brief \nhistory of the CIA, "The Good Shepherd" is a fascinating observation of a man who seems to care more for his country than for his own family. As added integrity, there are excellent cameos from a number of top-notch actors, including John Turturro, Joe Pesci and even De Niro himself. The film was written by Eric Roth, who penned "Forrest Gump" and "Munich" and has made a name for himself as an expert of 20th-century history. While "Shepherd" might not live up to its billing as the greatest spy movie, it certainly has flashes of brilliance.