lack-and-white film becomes George Clooney. His first foray into the palette was his well received McCarthy-era film, Good Night, and Good Luck, which landed him a best director and best picture nod at last year's Academy Awards. 

  In The Good German, Clooney leaves the directing to good friend Steven Soderbergh. He once again plays a newsman, this time a U.S. Army war correspondent named Jake Geismer who returns to Berlin (now divided into four zones) in 1945 to cover the Potsdam Peace Conference where Germany's disarmament is being discussed. 

  "The role seemed to be written for George," said Soderbergh. "It's the quintessential George role: intelligent, energetic, opinionated and fearless." 

  Jake's driver from the airport to the American zone, is Corporal Tully (Tobey Maguire), a seemingly good-natured kid from the Midwest who is actually corrupt to the core, bartering anything and anyone, and playing all sides for the highest price. 

  "Tully's a reptile," said Maguire, better known for playing good guy Peter Parker. "He's an opportunist who changes roles depending on who he's with."

  But Tully's black market dealings don't interest Jake -- Tully's girlfriend does. Lena Brandt (Cate Blanchett) was once Jake's lover. Left behind by Jake and changed by the war, she's no longer the woman he once knew. 
actors
George Clooney Cate Blanchett Tobey Maguire Tony Curran 
Beau Bridges

director
Steven Soderbergh

location
Los Angeles
outtake
The film was shot as if it had been made in 1945 using 1940s lenses. Only studio back lots, sets and local Los Angeles locations were used.

 She also lies to Tully. "He thinks they have a real relationship," said Maguire. "In fact, he thinks he has her under his thumb, but she has things going on that he's not privy to."

  When Tully ends up in the Russian zone with 100,000 marks in his pocket and a bullet in his back, Jake's reporter instinct kicks in, intrigued by Tully's death and the bigger mystery of why both the American and Russian authorities are looking the other way.

  The deeper his investigation takes him, the more it leads him back to Lena. "If he can get to the bottom of this, and help her in the process, he can feel better about himself and maybe get a bit of his soul back," said Clooney. "At least he can feel better about leaving her the first time."

  However, he doesn't realize the truth he is pursuing goes beyond Lena, beyond lost love and beyond Tully's shady deals.

-- Robin Stevenson