DVD Reviews: 'Last King of Scotland' and 'The Good Shepherd'

We're well into the NetFlix routine. We finished 'Last King of Scotland' two nights ago. Forest Whitaker acted the cootie out of that role. I almost forgot he wasn't Idi Amin. He was gentle and menacing and embodied the petulant, immature, brutal dictator beautifully. The problem with this film for me was that the central character was a novelized, fictional, composite sort of fellow: a Scottish doctor. Unless you check out the bonus features, you're left with the impression that the good doctor actually exists.

I had much the same difficulty with last night's 'The Good Shepherd' starring Matt Damon as a CIA Agent from its inception to the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. His character, too, was a composite of several agents and their stories. His co-star, Angelina Jolie, portrayed his beleaguered wife of many years. Matt Damon portrayed an intelligence agent who never got angry, smiled twice that I counted, and walked without moving his arms. It was near-death watching him. You knew something was going on inside, but it never made it to the screen. I have major difficulty with Angelina Jolie. The film covered 30 years and she never aged much [Damon, too, failed to age; his glasses did change over the years, however.] I have great difficulty separating Angelina the homewrecker from Angelina the actress. She was also completely modern in a period piece. She just never convinced me that she was born in the 20s, married in the late 30s and mother to an adult son in the 50s. All the vintage dresses in the world won't help, either. The story was looooooooooooooooong, running well over 2 hours and hopping incessantly from one time period to the next. Robert DeNiro directed it and seemed to require an Oscar statuette holder in each and every scene [Damon, Jolie, William Hurt, Joe Pesci, DeNiro]. Alec Baldwin made several brief appearances as a faithful FBI Agent. I like his acting so much that I can overlook his public persona [plus: I love him in "30 Rock"]. Still can't do that with Miss Lips, though.

Would I recommend either? Eh. I'd probably say they're a solid B, but nothing worth losing sleep over.