Cast: Jeff Daniels, Stephen Lang, Robert Duvall, C. Thomas Howell, Kevin Conway, Bruce Boxleitner, Brian Mallon, Kali Rocha, Mira Sorvino
Director: Ronald F. Maxwell
Producer: Ronald F. Maxwell
Screenplay: Ronald F. Maxwell, based on the book by Jeff Shaara
Cinematography: Kees Van Oostrum
Music: Randy Edelman, John Frizzell
U.S. Distributor: Warner Brothers
One could easily make the argument that Gettysburg is among the best war movies ever made. Despite its four-plus hour running length, the high drama and pacing of the film allow the time to breeze by. So, when it was announced that much of the cast and production team would re-assemble to adapt Jeff Shaara's Gods and Generals, the "prequel" to The Killer Angels (the book upon which Gettysburg is based), I was encouraged. Sadly, the movie falls far short of expectations. So far short, in fact, that I can recommend this motion picture only to two kinds of individuals: die-hard Civil War buffs and insomniacs. If ever there was a movie that could cause even the most restless sleeper to fall into a deep slumber, this is it.
The first puzzle associated with the movie is trying to figure out its goal. As a biography of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson (Stephen Lang), it is uneven and disjointed, breaking away from the character for lengthy periods of time. As an account of the first two years of the war (the time span for Gods and Generals is April 1861 until May 1863, less than two months before the battle at Gettysburg), it contains inexplicable gaps. One of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, Antietam, occurred during this span (September 1862), yet it is not mentioned during the course of Gods and Generals' interminable 220 minute length. Three battles are shown – Manassas Junction, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville.
The man with the most screen exposure is Stonewall Jackson, who seems to spend about 25% of his time praying to God about one thing or another. Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (Jeff Daniels) makes a few appearances, although the only logical reason for him to be in the movie at all is to give the North a token character. Although Chamberlain participated in the Battle of Fredericksburg, he did not become a major figure until Gettysburg, when he defended Little Round Top. His inclusion here is somewhat mystifying. Expectedly, General Robert E. Lee (Robert Duvall) has a role, although it is surprisingly minor. Other male characters with some significance include Chamberlain's brother, Tom (C. Thomas Howell), General James Longstreet (Bruce Boxleitner), General Winfield Scott Hancock (Brian Mallon), and Sergeant Buster Kilrain (Kevin Conway). We are also briefly introduced to a couple of women: Chamberlain's wife, Fanny (Mira Sorvino), and Jackson's wife, Anna (Kail Rocha).
I'm sure Gods and Generals is impeccably accurate from an historical perspective. Screenwriter/director Ronald Maxwell is known for his belief that movies based on real events should not stray from those events. The approach works in Gettysburg, where time and space are constrained. They fail him here. Instead of dealing with events that transpired in one place over a period of four days, he must struggle with two years' worth of occurrences all across Virginia. Maxwell overextends himself, and the result is sloppy, rambling, and poorly paced. There are times when this movie grinds to a complete halt. That's a bad thing for a 90-minute motion picture; it's death for one that's more than twice that length.
The battle scenes lack the scope and tension of those in Gettysburg. Here, they seem hurried and repetitive. Fredericksburg is a case in point. For about fifteen minutes, we see one line after another of Union soldiers approach a stone wall, only to be mowed down by the gunfire of the Confederates shielded by it. This may have been the way it actually happened, but Maxwell fails to find a way to make the sequence interesting. In Gettysburg, the battles build to a climax. In Gods and Generals, there's little difference between the beginning and the ending, except that there are many more corpses on the ground.
One of the most obvious shortcomings of Gods and Generals lies in its misguided attempt to humanize the generals, in particular Jackson. In addition to killing momentum, the so-called "character building" scenes don't work. They are badly acted, melodramatic, and run on for too long. One running subplot – about Jackson's attachment to a little girl who dies of Scarlet Fever – is so awkward that I can't understand how it survived the editor's pruning. The big payoff – that of Jackson sobbing while his men look on in astonishment – is hardly worth the agony of enduring all of the "cute" scenes that precede it.
A disheartening aspect of Gods and Generals is the flat quality of the acting. The only one to come away unscathed is Jeff Daniels, who does an admirable job re-creating the character he played in Gettysburg. Robert Duvall, replacing Martin Sheen, is stiff and unemotive as Lee. One could believe Sheen as a vital, charismatic tactician and leader; Duvall just looks like an old man with bad skin. Stephen Lang, who was remarkable as Pickett is Gettysburg, is wooden as Jackson. Mira Sorvino, in a small part, is unspeakably awful. And, as Longstreet, Bruce Boxleitner looks almost identical to Tom Berenger (who played the part in Gettysburg), but shows only a fraction of the humanity.
Some of the flaws inherent in Gods and Generals are the result of Maxwell's decision to stick to a single source. Shaara's book has a pro-South bias. For the most part, it isn't offensive, but it is evident. Lee and Jackson are venerated. Jackson's goodness is shown in his sincere love for his wife, his piety, and his willingness to bond with a free black man whom he hires as his cook. With the exception of Chamberlain, the Union generals are presented as either bumbling or self-absorbed (actually, not an unfair characterization). Even Hancock is painted in a unflattering light.
From a technical standpoint, Gods and Generals pales in comparison to Gettysburg. Visually, it is not as impressive. Nothing evokes awe or pathos. The musical score, while effective, does not equal the stirring, memorable strains of Gettysburg. In every comparison I can conceive of, Gods and Generals not only comes up short, it comes up very short. This movie did not engage me on any level. I looked at my watch roughly two-dozen times.
I suspect that, on television or DVD, it will be a better experience. Pauses, stops, and breaks will help the film, which never develops any real momentum. (The rumor is that Maxwell will release a 5 1/2-hour version for home viewing. With all of the seemingly unnecessary footage left in, I have to wonder what was excised.) There is history to be uncovered here, especially by those unfamiliar with the Civil War. And there are occasional moments – such as when a lone rebel and union soldier exchange "Christmas gifts" in the middle of a stream – when the movie shows flashes of brilliance. Unfortunately, those are gems in the rubble.
Gods and Generals isn't just disappointing; it's awkward, poorly constructed, and boring. One can only hope that, in two years' time when Maxwell's cinematic version of the concluding chapter of the Civil War trilogy, The Last Full Measure, arrives, it will bear a closer resemblance to Gettysburg than to Gods and Generals.
© 2003 James Berardinelli