Rated R
Running time: 2 hrs 40 mins
Cast:
**1/2 out of *****
(33% Fresh Rating!)
B-
Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:
**1/2 out of *****
Set in 1944 Italy, the story of four black American soldiers who get trapped in a Tuscan village during WWII.
MY REVIEW
Miracle at St. Anna does so many things right, but at the same time does a lot of things wrong. The movie starts off very promising. A man shoots another in cold blood, he's arrested and it's discovered he possessed a rare artifact that's been missing for 40 years. He's interrogated than we cut away to a flashback to his life as a WWII Buffalo Soldier. The remaining two hours and twenty minutes tends to be all over the place.
Like I said, the movie starts promising. It's kind of intense, and you expect some big, profound story to follow. But what actually follows is a major let down after a major let down. It kinda falls flat a few minutes into the flashback and never really picks up steam. I mean the story is touching in a way, and it obviously means well but the pieces just aren't put together that successfully. By the end, I personally was very dissapointed. I understand the end signified salvation and redemption, but that was such a lose point in the actual movie that you don't feel a strong emotional bond with the story by the end of it all. The movie kind of just let's go of it's grasp on you about half way through.
It does have it's share of powerful moments. I mean this is a WWII drama after all. One of the most powerful scenes, and one I could barely manage to watch, was the scene at St. Anna. I don't want to ruin it, but it's a moment that was tough for me to personally stomach. It was incredibly tragic and sad. I understand that was a common thing in the war, especially with those danged Nazis! Sometimes I think movie makers go a tad to far when trying to be real. I just have to think there is a better more civilized way to display such tramautic events.
Another issue was the very random and completely uneeded characters played by John Leguizamo, Joseph Gordon Levitt, and John Turturro. You have to see the movie really, but these actors and their characters almost quite litterally had NO point in the movie. Especially Joseph Gordon Levitt. I was happy to see him in the movie because he truly is a great young actor, but then dissapointed by the fact he served NO importance. It's hard to explain. The other performances, the important ones, were all excellent in their own regards.
The film looks incredible. It definitely had that going for it. It was wonderfully shot. The battle scenes were done very respectively. There was gore, but never too much to make you nauseous. It was almost classy in a sense. There was beautfiul locations used, incredible set designs. A great musical score. Everything that was technical about the movie was near perfection. It was just in the story the movie really faltered for me. It just never seemed to have that climatic moment, it never had that truly powerful and moving scene. With a story like this you come to expect that. The movie just never rose to the occasion.
To view this film's theatrical trailer, click this link: Miracle at St. Anna
*This is the 118th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.
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