The problems with "The Good Shepherd"

***MILD SPOILER ALERT!!!

• Unlikable and uninspiring lead character: Edward Wilson is a typical government worker character who's extremely successful and good at what he does at work but isn't able to have a normal, loving relationship with his family. Worse, he left his nice girlfriend to marry someone who he doesn't love (for political reason) and then cheated on his wife. Matt Damon isn't a bad looking actor but his character is so boring it's hard to understand how all these attractive female characters throw themselves at him.
  
• Robert De Niro, who's arguably one of the best actors of our time, isn't able to manage the large group of all-star casts with a somewhat complex plot and subplots. He did an admirable job directing A Bronx Tale when the cast was much smaller and the story was less complicated.
  
• The editing by Tariq Anwar, which is something that De Niro should be partly responsible for, was inefficient in that it failed to compact the story and move on to something else more interesting. The main problem is that it kept linger in the dark world, which was beautifully set up and shot but you get tired after looking at it for most of the movie. I was able to appreciate the end of the movie much more when the location is in Dominican Republic where it's much more vibrant.