"Miracle" is a Mess of a Movie

Spike Lee will have to deal with negative criticisms of his newest film, Miracle at St. Anna, mainly in reference to the word “Miracle.” Picture the headlines: “Miracle is Anything but a Miracle,” “St. Anna Needs a Miracle of a Writer,” and so on. While those critics may find fault with the film, they will be wrong, somewhat. Miracle at its heart has a great story, but its heart is not in the right place. Instead, it is a mess of a movie that tries to swallow more than it can chew.

Miracle is told in flashback (and later in another flashback), with four survivors of an all-black army company after an ambush from the Nazis. They take in a wounded Italian boy and hold up in a small village hoping for reinforcements to arrive. However, are they survivors out of pure fortune or does a statue head that one soldier carries keep them safe?

While the plot description sounds hokey, explaining anymore would ruin a few surprises of the film, though if attentive, you will guess in advance as to what they are. Essentially the movie tries to tell three stories: the black soldiers, the Italian boy they befriend, and an Italian resistance group. Each could have their own film. Yet, at a running time of 2 hours and 46 minutes, it still is not enough. Undeniably, director Lee and writer James McBride (who also penned the novel) feel the most important story is about the black soldiers. Their story is engaging, but not enough. He merely uses the story of the Italian boy and Italian resistance as afterthoughts. Their stories are just as intriguing as the soldiers are and it is a shame the writer and director chose to ignore that. Had they given focus to those two other stories, the film would’ve clocked in at four hours. Length, however, does not dictate a good or bad film. It’s the final product that does.

Director Spike Lee also has an intentional tendency to get preachy in his films. We come to learn that the Italian village people treat them better than at home back in the USA. That itself is an interesting fact. However, Lee has to tell us that. We know it already and he just keeps hammering it in us as if we are stubborn children who refuse to pay attention. In addition, we know it’s a war where blacks were sent in as guinea pigs on the more dangerous missions. Again, the characters, or I should say the filmmakers, feel they have to announce these things as if we did not know. Lecturing is for professors to do, not films. It alienates the film goers who do not like to be spoon-fed the messages or themes of the film. Also, it is generally insulting.
What the director and writer do get right is the compelling relationship between the Italian boy and one of the soldiers, whom the boy calls by a funny pet name. Watching the relationship grow between this boy and young man, who is a kid at heart, is both beautiful and emotional. Seeing them break communication barriers and come to an eventual understanding of one another is done elegantly by the filmmakers. It is not treated in a sappy, force fed way, but with truth and honesty.

Miracle could have been, and should have been a great film. The stories of black soldiers are one that needs to be told and Lee had an opportunity that failed. He should have either stuck to one story or fully fleshed out all three. Instead, it is a muddle film that thinks it is a masterpiece, but ultimately, it is not.

Rating: 6/10