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Robert DeNiro turned down a role in Martin Scorsese’s masterful thriller, The Departed, due to his commitment to bringing The Good Shepherd to the big screen. The eventually went to Martin Sheen. As good as I think he would have been in the role, I think Martin Sheen was the right man for it, besides, the trailer for The Good Shepherd makes his absence all the better. This is De Niro’s big screen directorial debut, and considering those he has worked with over the years, I think this is gonna be a good one.

The Good Shepherd is about the beginnings of the Central Intelligence Agency at the dawn of the Cold War. While the base of the movie is broad, it focuses its energies on Edward Wilson (Matt Damon). He is an intelligent up and comer at Yale, where he is recruited to the super-secret Skull & Bones Society (which includes George W. Bush and John Kerry as members). From there he is approached by the OSS, which led into his part of forming the CIA.

I have to say that the trailer looks very good. Damon is clearly the focus as Wilson’s rising career comes into conflict with the love of his life, Clover (Angelina Jolie) and the love of his young son. I cannot imagine what it must be like to be involved in that line of work, much less trying to have a family while doing it. This work is your life, there really is no room for anything else. I can tell you that is not the life for me.

DeNiro has a great cast lined up for it, in addition to himself, Damon, and Jolie, there is Joe Pesci, Alec Baldwin, William Hurt, Billy Crudup, and Timothy Hutton. The screenplay was written by Eric Roth, who also wrote Munich, Ali, The Insider, and The Postman.

This definitely looks like a winner. Be sure to take a look at the trailer and TV spots, plus a host of other information at the film’s official site. It is being released by Universal Pictures on December 22, 2006.