Gods and Generals Review
by Laura Clifford (laura AT reelingreviews DOT com)February 20th, 2003
GODS AND GENERALS
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Abraham Lincoln offered Colonel Robert E. Lee (Robert Duvall) command of the Federal Army, called to arms to put down the rebellious secessionists, but Lee chose instead to take the offer of his home state of Virginia and stand
against the Union. Each side was fiercely righteous and so the Civil War, like all wars before and since, became a war of "Gods and Generals."
A decade ago, Michael Shaara's novel "Gettysburg" was successfully transformed into a movie by writer/director Ron Maxwell. The same filmmaking team stumble badly with Shaara's son Jeff's prequel. While Stephen Lang ("Gettysburg" as Major General George E. Pickett) gives a fine central performance as General Stonewall Jackson, this edition is poorly directed, stodgily photographed, unevenly acted and undeserving of its three and a half hour running time.
The film gets off to a bad beginning as Lee arrives to reject the president's commission. Unconvincing matte work, solemnly delivered dialogue and an unmoving camera give the scene all the drama of a historical school play. Things continue on in this vein for an hour as sides are drawn with crowds of extras (most of whom are Civil War recreationists as used in "Gettysburg") failing to act naturally for the camera. Maxwell stages one scene, where two Virginian volunteers discuss their low morale, with the two speakers shown amidst a long phalanx of silent marchers. He may as well have spotlit them.
Jackson was an earnestly devout man, but his call for wife Anna (Kali Rocha, "White Oleander") to join him in a reading of Corinithians to mark his departure is risible, partly due to Rocha's heaving bosom. Much better played is its counterpart, where Maine college professor Lawrence Chamberlain (Jeff Daniels, "Gettysburg") makes his decision to volunteer known to wife Fanny (Mira Sorvino, "The Grey Zone"). Daniels' introduction lifts the film up a notch. He's an injection of "Gettysburg's" glory.
However, "Gods and Generals," which covers the Virginia battles leading up to Gettysburg, is mostly about Jackson. The film makes a strong case that Jackson's untimely death (from pneumonia while recovering from friendly fire which cost him his left arm) may have changed the Civil War's outcome. Fredericksburg falls, but Lee's clever strategy is showcased when the Yanks fail miserably at their attempt to take Richmond. Jackson, whose faith made him believe that he 'was as safe in war as in bed,' was Lee's right hand man.
"Gods and Generals," which covers three years vs. "Gettysburg's" three days, offers far fewer fighting sequences than "Gettysburg," and when it does it doesn't articulate the battle plan cinematically. Maxwell throws characters spouting their lines, frequently in the form of poetry or prayer, at other characters while editor Corky Ehlers ("Gettysburg") ploddingly cuts from close-up to two-shot to close-up. Two black characters exist solely to make speeches about slavery. Martha (Donzaleigh Abernathy, TV's "Miss Evers' Boys") is a Fredericksburg slave who calls her family 'good people' but prays for the wounded Unionists who commission their home as a hospital. Jim (Frankie Faizon, "Red Dragon") is a free man who becomes a cook for Jackson's regiment. They both pray for the freedom of Negroes one evening. While no Black characters are present on the Yank side, Chamberlain answers his brother Tom's (C. Thomas Howell, "Gettysburg") comment that some men resent fighting for darkies by stating that they should all be willing to die for the Negroes' freedom. The human side of all these people gets obscured by earnest sloganeering.
Lang makes Stonewall Jackson spring to life, but is hampered by the script's agenda. A third act relationship with a five year old girl (Lydia Jordan), intended to signify Jackson's separation from his newborn daughter, comes across like a Shirley Temple/Bill Bojangles Robinson act. Daniels is good but underutilized. Brian Mallon, another "Gettysburg" returnee, adds spirit whenever Hancock is in a scene. Kevin Conway, though, reissues his Lucky Charms blarney as Buster Kilrain. Sorvino's brief apearances offer relief in a higher calibre of acting than is present throughout most of the film. Ted Turner dons his Civil War duds for the requisite cameo once more.
Technically, the film is third rate. Cinematographer Kees Van Oostrum ("Gettysburg") does little more than point and crank his camera. Effects work and stunts are unconvincing, from cheesy matte work to breakaways that break too soon and bodies which fly from explosions too late. Titles are used so often one awaits one that reads 'Are you still awake?' Original Music by Bob Dylan, Randy Edelman ("Shanghai Knights") and John Frizzell ("Ghost Ship") is alternately inappropriate or cliched.
"Gods and Generals" should have been a rich opportunity to explore the bonds of religious belief and war with a backdrop of the most troubled time in U.S. history in what may be an era to replace it. Instead, it is merely a good portrait of Stonewall Jackson, surrounded by a bad movie.
D+
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