Miracle at St. Anna

This could have been an incredible film; as it stands, it’s just a film that didn’t live up to its potential. Spike Lee has shown us he can deliver with Inside Man, but this film doesn’t quite reach the same quality in some aspects. The beginning is great; it captured my attention, and I found myself wondering why the main character shot that man. Then comes a significant problem. After the excellent start, we get to a middle section that would earn only two stars from me. The dialogues in some places were rather meaningless, the action was slow to arrive despite being a war film, and the actors were, how should I put it, uninspired. At least the perfect final half-hour made up for it with an incredibly well-executed shootout, which lifted the film out of mediocrity. If the whole film had maintained that spirit, I wouldn't have complained at all. I should also mention one thing that left me somewhat puzzled: the gradual genre changes. At first, it felt like a decent drama, then a comedic element appeared, which was abruptly ended by bloody action and solid war scenes. They needed to decide what genre they wanted to pursue. Lastly, the film's length was an issue. I would have cut a few dozen minutes, and I don't think much would have been lost. It’s a rather unbalanced film, but there are still more good moments overall. I give it 65%. (02/12/2017)

Spike Lee on the battlefield? I think that even if he went to the other side of the universe, he would still pursue his favorite themes, which he can set in any environment. In this war drama about the fact that miracles sometimes do happen, he looks again at racism and the sins of the past that can reverberate even decades later. Although it is not as much of a game with the viewer as, say, Inside Man, the directness will be more to the likes of many. This is especially true if you can appreciate likable characters and miracle-level coincidences (which, judging by all the crying on IMDb, you probably can't). But even if not, the ice cream passage or the church in St. Anna are emotional highlights that few other films offer. It’s too bad that the cathartic ending, which I suspected from the halfway point, doesn't have the same impact. Otherwise, it’s great. 4 ½. (01/23/2009)