From intensely personal weirdness to slick big-budget romps, remakes of Russian sci-fi classics and minimalist melodrama, Steven Soderbergh is a director with a prodigious hunger for experiments. His refreshing sense of play is consistently rewarding even if the results aren't always successful. Early this year, the simultaneous theatrical, DVD, and online release of Bubble failed to kick off a revolution in distribution, and I seriously doubt that The Good German, a faux 1940s noir shot with period technology and starring Cate Blachett, George Clooney, and Tobey Maguire, is going to cause an "authentic production" movement in motion pictures. Continue reading Jürgen's review...

The Good German opens in limited release on Friday. Image © Warner Bros.