Review of Miracle at St. Anna (2008) by Gianluca F — 21 Aug 2010

25 minutes in and I'm already restless. 1 hour in and I simply do not care about anyone. 1 hour 30 minutes in and I'm convinced that Miracle at St. Anna may be one of the most tediously boring war films I have even seen.

Seriously, what happened here? Spike Lee's response to Clint Eastwood's Flags of our Fathers is a failure on almost every conceivable level. The pace is lethargic, to put it mildly, the acting is horrible (especially odd given the talented names), the writing is hackneyed and clichéd, the music - jeez, the fucking music - is an abomination.

Half the time the score is plinky plunky breezy comedy stuff, the other time it's a disharmonic hung-over nightmare, it is as oil is to water with what is happening on screen. An ongoing spirituality theme is cloying.

Nothing convinces - even the violent battle scenes feel incredibly artificial -and the direction is a mess. An undeniably terrible film.