Review of Miracle at St. Anna (2008) by Sean G — 23 Feb 2010
I like war films, just not this one. I enjoy some of Spike's films but St. Anna is just an overlong, heavy handed mess. If you are a die hard Spike fan & never question his choices & feverishly love all his films, no matter the quality, then you'll probably stop reading this now & mark this review as unhelpful (be my guest, doesn't hurt me).
*SPOILERS The actors (Luke, Miller, Cervi, Sciabordi) are actually quite good in this film, but the script is so weak in its characterizations it leaves them no room to showcase their abilities. The dialogue is trite and preachy beyond belief, all you get are thematic speeches which don't propel the storyline nor deepen the characters.
After a while you just don't care about anyone & just tune out, especially since the film clocks in at over 2hrs46m. Also, the scenes with Leguizamo & Turturro are completely useless. If you are going to have quality actors in your film please do not regulate them to throwaway parts.
Turturro's detective and Gordon-Levitt's reporter could have easily been combined into one character. Also, Leguizamo & the newspaper falling out the window was utterly contrived. The old man makeup for Negron was horrendous.
Why not just get an older actor like in SPR? Also, the squad acts like they aren't in much danger as they lounge around the village. Seriously, why no posting of lookouts? And why wouldn't you just wait, crossing the river at night to safety? What soldier in his right mind would venture farther into enemy territory with absolutely no support? Does this film really show us an accurate African-American experience of WWII? Not likely, especially when it consists of just 4 men in a village behind enemy lines.
Does it show us how blacks were deprived of civil rights at home & found people in Italy more accommodating? Yes, but when this theme is slapped onto a boring, contrived story it really isn't that interesting.
This is one Spike Lee film you can miss & probably never ever care that you did.
This review of Miracle at St. Anna (2008) was written by Sean G on 23 Feb 2010.
Miracle at St. Anna has generally received mixed reviews.
Was this review helpful?
