37
Metascore
31 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertContains scenes of brilliance, interrupted by scenes that meander. There is too much, too many characters, too many subplots. But there is so much here that is powerful that it should be seen no matter its imperfections.
- 63ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliMiracle at St. Anna is overlong and poorly focused. It tends to meander, the military context is not well established, and too much time is spent on interaction with underdeveloped secondary characters.
- 55NPRBob MondelloNPRBob MondelloEven in a film that clocks in at a quasi-epic 2 hours and 40 minutes, that's just too much narrative. And matters aren't helped by the fact that Lee, who has never staged battle sequences before, hasn't quite got the rhythms or camera angles right.
- 50Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsChicago TribuneMichael PhillipsHalf the time I wasn't sure what Lee was going for in terms of tone, or style, or focus. It was a tricky assignment to begin with, because McBride's novel, and his screenplay, is part socio-historical corrective, part magical-realist folklore, part wartime procedural.
- 42Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanMiracle isn't powerful, it's muddled and diffuse.
- 30The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThe Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttOdd too, for a film that wants to correct impression anyone had as to the abilities of black U.S. soldier in combat, are the ethnic cliches about Italians and Germans, to say nothing of rednecks.
- 30New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinWhen Lee isn't doing cinematic somersaults or mining for injustice, he doesn't seem to know where to put the camera. The logistics of the plot make no sense, and he has nothing to sell but the theme of our common humanity--in which, on the evidence, I don't think he believes.
- 20VarietyTodd McCarthyVarietyTodd McCarthyThis is a sloppy stew in which the ingredients of battle action, murder mystery, little-kid sentiment and history lesson don't mix well.
- 20Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAustin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAnd for all Lee's ballyhoo about racial stereotyping, one might expect him to adopt a less hackneyed approach to his portrayals of Italians and women.
- 20Village VoiceVillage VoiceYou may begin to wonder if Lee really initiated this project or if it only fell into his hands after Roberto Benigni proved unavailable.