Rated R for strong war violence, language, and some sexual content/nudity.
Directed by Spike Lee
Starring Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, John Turturro and John Legizamo
This fictional story starts at Christmas in 1983, when a New York postal clerk and former World War II Buffalo Soldier shoots a stranger. In his apartment, police find a valuable Italian marble head, missing since the war. Flashbacks tell the story of four African-American soldiers who cross Tuscany's Serchio River, dodging German and friendly fire. With a shell-shocked boy in tow, they reach the village of Colognora. Orders via radio tell them to capture a German soldier for questioning about a counteroffensive. In the village, a beautiful woman, partisans that include a traitor and a local legend, the boy, and the story of a recent massacre connect to the postal worker's anguish forty years later.
There are only a handful of movies that I have turned off before reaching the end after being excited by the trailer, Miracle at St. Anna is one. I tried again the next day (thinking maybe I was too tired), but I didn’t make it through that time either. The beginning starts off strong with the shooting at the post office and the creepy interrogation where we hear “I know who the sleeping man is,” but the middle section wanders aimlessly through places I just stopped caring about. As good as it could have been, the way-too-long, 155-minute film proved too much for me.
The other issue is the lack of story. Everyone knows that Miracle at St. Anna is Lee's response to Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers. I remember reading all news articles about his complaints that there were no African-American soldiers in Eastwood’s film. So Spike’s film has a strong agenda: there were African-American soldiers (in this case an all African-American infantry unit) and they were fighting for a country that didn't even appreciate them. And while I truly do appreciate their service and am saddened by our nation’s past sins, it would be completely ridiculous for me to say I understand Lee’s anger. I believe his anger is justified, but without a strong story it just didn’t work.
Sorry, I can't recommend you spend your time or money on this one, it’s a Coaster.
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
No, it has a true R-rating with plenty of violence, some rough language and a few sex/nudity scenes.
Side Note:
As said above, we don’t recommend your kids see this film. But on the occasion that they actually have already seen it, you may want to dialogue about the film with them. These questions below may be a help to you.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
- What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
- How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
- How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
