A smart, ambitious, beautiful young woman a few years earlier, Lena is now a slightly uncommon prostitute. Geismer knew her back when; Tully frequents her now. Tully’s dangerous affairs find someone waking up on the wrong side of death’s ledger one day, a body washing ashore at Schloss Cecilienhof, where the Potsdam Conference is being held. Whose jurisdiction will lead the investigation? Geismer doesn’t care, and he undertakes his own investigation to find the culprit and, hopefully, find Lena once again.
If not for Tobey Maguire’s strained portrayal, The Good German would boast a near-flawless ensemble. Both Clooney and Blanchett make their work look so easy. Clooney is a seamless leading man and Blanchett is an uncanny chameleon, successfully navigating her third straight strong performance of the season (Babel and Notes on a Scandal). Soderbergh’s technical precision means there’s also something beyond the performers to examine more closely in each scene, and more than enough reason to examine the film itself.
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