Movie Review: Miracle at St. Anna
Where is the story I was promised?
Photo: Touchstone Pictures
Spike Lee is a fantastic filmmaker and that's the only reason you are never technically bored while watching Miracle at St. Anna, but a lack of boredom doesn't make up for a story gone awry. The story of African American involvement in World War II is a story that needs to be told, but not in some roundabout way that makes you think, "Spike, it's great you want to bring us a story about black soldiers in World War II, but did it have to be a fake one?"
Miracle at St. Anna is based on a novel by James McBride who was commissioned by Lee to pen the script for the film. The film centers on four soldiers from the 92nd "Buffalo Soldier" Division, a predominately all-black army division stationed in Tuscany, Italy during World War II. Lee gets into the story using what appears to be a random act of violence as a bank employee, who apparently keeps a German luger in a drawer at his bank window, shoots a man. We learn the shooter's name is Hector Negron, a Puerto Rican soldier once part of the 92nd and along with being a murderer he also has, in his apartment, the head of an Italian statue worth millions. How did it get there and why did Hector shoot this man? That's the million dollar question… or is it? And if it is, should it be?
The cast includes Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Omar Benson Miller, Laz Alonso, John Leguizamo, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Omari Hardwick, John Hawkes and Walt Goggins. For more information on this film including pictures, trailers and a detailed synopsis choose from the following menu.
Review
"Miracle at St. Anna" is a Touchstone Pictures release, directed by Spike Lee and is rated R for strong war violence, language and some sexual content/nudity.
From what I had heard about Miracle at St. Anna, it was to be Lee's attempt to inform people of the African American involvement in World War II, highlighting their contribution despite a large amount of racism and ignorance. One line in the film delivered by Stamps lends well to this idea when he says he feels freer in Italy than he does in the country he is fighting for. However, he still believes in change, something Cummings doesn't even want to hear about as he feels oppressed and is only looking out for #1. You can't really blame the feelings of either man, but the attitude Cummings has brings nothing to the story but negativity. Sure, it's an attempt to be fair and show there are two sides. Not all black people believed things would get better and felt if things were going to stay the same they were going to do the most with it they could. It's a good idea and it would have worked better had the story been true, but when you are going to fictionalize a true story it seems senseless and over-dramatized.
Honestly, I didn't know Miracle at St. Anna wasn't a true story until afterward. However, while I was watching I began to think, "There is no way this is true." The film hit on every note you would expect as well as everything you have ever seen in a war picture showing the atrocities of World War II combined with the negative treatment and heroism of the black (and Puerto Rican) soldiers.
The film runs 2 hours and 40 minutes long and I can point to several portions of the film that could have been cut, primarily the whole Hector Negron mystery which bookends the film in a way that is so melodramatic and over the top it doesn't even fit into the story told in the guts of the picture. Negativity considered, there are a few highlights deserving of attention. One scene in particular re-enacts the massacre at St. Anna and it is phenomenally effective. The true story of the massacre tells of 560 people being shot and bludgeoned to death, including women and children. Lee cuts that down to about 50 or so villagers (still including women and children) and had he chosen to go with reality it probably would have been unwatchable. He holds nothing back, and I really believe had he nixed the mystery angle and shown this scene at the beginning of the film I may be giving you a completely different opinion.
In terms of performances, the principals are all decent. Alonso stands out slightly and I always enjoy Benson Miller, but Ealy's character is so silly it seems his only purpose in the film was to walk around eyeing women and leaving the room going, "Mmmmhmmm," with a crooked sex-me-up eye. Whatever he was going for, it didn't work. Finally, casting Walton Goggins as anyone other than Shane on "The Shield" is a bad choice. He just isn't a good actor and his white racist Captain Nokes character comes off as laughable. He's an asshole, yeah, we get it, but couldn't you have found someone that could act to play the role?
Overall, Miracle at St. Anna is a mess of miscommunicated messages that still leaves room for a proper film based on the "Buffalo Soldiers" to be told, preferably a true one. It's a shame because Spike Lee generates attention and I felt if anyone could get this story to the screen effectively it would have been him. Instead we learn nothing new and there is very little to come out of the story that the audience can take with them. Unless I am mistaken the only facts of the matter are that there was a 92nd "Buffalo Soldier" Division, there was racism and there was a massacre at St. Anna. Other than that, it's all a bunch of mumbo jumbo that never actually happened, and taking the reality out of the story makes it something of a complete waste of time.
D+
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your reviw of The movie miracle at st. anna is bullshit it is a good as movie and it not mumbo jumbo dick shit it about the struggle that black and hispanic soldiers had to face fighting for a country that didnt even respect them so before you make a dumbass review find the true meaning of the movie.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
you mean to tell me you never knew opinions and interpretations differ.
Your review sums up my impression of the movie perfectly. I was left in a state of confussion when the movie ended; wondering exactly what WAS the "Miracle"??
I just spent the last 2 hrs. 40 min watching this movie thinking that it was going to be good. I was disappointed to hear that this isn't based on a true story. I think Lee had the ability to find actual soldier(s) of the Buffalo Soldier division to make his movie off of. I am glad that he did choose to not do the St. Anna massacre as it really happened. I sat in horror while witnessing that scene, especially the part where the infant is murdered. Lee could have done a much better job and found a better story to bring to life.
i absoloutely loved this movie i think spike did a great job, you guys really didn't want him to bring you a true movie for the same reason we don't know where the klan's clubs are
Honestly, folks.. I can't fully understand all of the negativity of this film's review, "miracle" was kind of slow-moving, but it was a movie that completely displayed the duality of man-kind… & it had a beautiful ending.. I was moved.
I feel "Miracle at St. Anna's" is a very good movie. I felt one purpose of the movie was to show the WWII experience from a Black GI perspective. It is (very loosely) based on a true story. Many great WWII movies are (very loosely) based on true accounts. I also liked "Saving Private Ryan", which was very loosely based on actual accounts.
Met a winemaker who said he invented seat belts. Was he a "model" for the story? The "little boy" in the movie, who was rescued by the black soldiers, grew up (an inventor of seat belts) and paid for a lawyer to save Hector. Cannot believe that this story was not based on the true story.
I bet this same person who gave this extremely bad review this awesome movie Miracle at St. Anna, probablly gave RAVE reviews to that bullshit propaganda movie about the planes that hit the world trade. Not the incident itself but the movie was bullshit. This was an excellent move but because the main characters and director are black it gets negative reviews…..doesn't suprise me one bit. What all about all those other FICTION and very WHITE movies, like Inglorious Basterds got rave reviews…
I am a little surprised by the bad review. I thought it was a fantastic movie, as does everyone I know who has seen it. One thing though, which I'm surprised no one commented on so far, is he was a POSTAL WORKER, not a bank employee. Seems like you were paying lots of attention there, guy.
Who was the German he shot? Missed first 15 mins. Anyway dumbass review. It was so intetesting of a plot i stayed up to 330am to watch it..n facts where true.. just fantasy mixed in which is better summed up as…u got it..a movie!:P
I thought it was a good story and a great movie. The review of this movie on the other hand was poorly written and petty. It seems like his main complaint is that the movie was not entirely true. If you are getting your history from movies, you are not very intelligent or well read. The point of the movie is to entertain and educate, and the story was suburb. This movie was easily ten times better than that awful movie, Inglorious Bastards.
The guy he killed at the beginning was Rodolfo! Which is the one who attempted to kill him with a knife to the throat. I've watched this movie several times & I love it every single time :)
did spike lee steal harry potter's magic wand or just smoke california medical marijuana: this movie was long winded fantasy crap: abra cadabra. box office bomb only made $9 million dollars total cost $45 million 0+0= crap.
there was a black unit in ww2 and there was a town called st. anna after that the story is just made up crap.
If spike lee wanted to make a ww2 movie about a black unit he should have come up with a better story line than some head off of a statue. and some little kid that grows up to claim he invented the seat belt oh pleese.
once again spike lee portrays the white (man) captain as a racist idiot.
as for that show inglorious bastards that movie was done tongue in cheek meaning it was not to be taken seriously.
saving private Ryan was fiction too but it was believable fiction with out any fantasy of dead spirits guiding people. Boooooooo :p
Miracle at St. Anna was an excellent excellent movie. I watched the movie five times i give the movie an A+. I told all my friends and family about this Movie. I think the movie critics are being very racist and don't support and respect Spike Lee and his all black cast. This movie is in the same catagorie as Band of Brothers, Glory, Saving private ryan, all excellent movies. The Racist movie critics can all go to hell and back. Spike Lee you did an excellent job directing this movie!!!