They weren't kidding
02.23.2003I feel like I have to apologize to Dan for dragging him out w/ me to see Gods and Generals. It was bad. Really bad. We walked out halfway through -- and I've never walked out of a movie. Ever.
The film's heart-string sentimentality was way over-the-top. Not to mention that it seemed unedited. There were entire scenes (and long ones too) that were utterly unnecessary. The first half (which is all I saw of the four-hour epic) could've easily been cut to fill a half-hour History Channel special.
This wasn't like Gettysburg (by the same people, mind you) where the length didn't matter. Gettysburg showed a remarkable pace, understood the importance of subtlety, and focused on only two key moments of a single battle (the attack on Little Round Top and the charge up Seminary Ridge). Gods and Generals, moved too quickly over a wide geographic, political, historical, and military timeline. There was virtually no decent acting, no real character development, and no sense of what-the-heck-is-going-on.
Instead, the film jumped from one battle to the next w/ ridiculous soliloquies, banter, monologues, and character introductions in between. I don't think any southern general was missed. They all showed up somewhere or other. Even if it was a five minute scene of one them helping his troops climb onto a train.
We had to listen to General Jackson sermonize again, and again, and again. I'm not kidding. First he decides to read Bible verses w/ this wife. Then a five-minute personal oration to the Lord God Almighty before his first battle. And, finally, an impromptu prayer service w/ his black servant. No wonder God let the Confederacy lose the war; he was either bored to death by their incessant prattle or offended by their over-the-top sanctimoniousness.
The north wasn't much better. Jeff Daniels' character was amazing in Gettysburg. In 1993, Daniels gave a brilliantly subtle performance as a shell-shocked down-to-earth college professor trying to do the right thing in the middle of a horrible war. In Gods and Generals, Daniels recites bad English poetry w/ his wife. Before his first battle, Daniels lectures his troops (as they prepare to march into hellfire) from Pliny's histories of the wars of Julius Caesar -- recited verbatim to his worshipful troops. Please.
You also get the sense that southern blacks were pro-Confederacy. They -- like their white "neighbors" -- cheer marching Southern troops. One of them volunteers to be Jackson's cook. Did I miss something?
Look, I'm a history buff. I watch a lot of History Channel specials on the Civil War. I think Gettysburg was one of the best movies I've ever seen (and I still think so). But this movie was just plain awful.
Oh, after walking out of Gods and Generals, Dan and I snuck into another theater and saw Daredevil instead. Much better. Go see that instead. Go see anything instead.
Posted by Miguel at 12:18 AM
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