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Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso, Omar Benson Miller, Valentina Cervi ... see more see more... , Matteo Sciabordi , Joseph Gordon-Levitt , John Turturro , John Leguizamo , Kerry Washington , D.B. Sweeney , Robert John Burke , Omari Antonutti , Omero Antonutti , Sergio Albelli , Alexandra Maria Lara , Pierfrancesco Favino

Spike Lee's World War II film Miracle at St. Anna begins in 1983 with Hector Negron, a veteran of that war, unexpectedly shooting a customer dead. Police discover that the suspect, a quiet postal work... read more read more...er, kept a statue head worth millions of dollars in his apartment. An eager young reporter (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) interviews Negron in his cell about the mysterious artifact. While serving in the all-minority 92nd "Buffalo Soldier" Division, Negron and three comrades managed to sneak deep into enemy territory in Italy. One of the men, Sam Train (Omar Benson Miller), picked the head up while they were serving in Florence and believes it brings him good luck. Negron (Laz Alonso), Train, and Bishop Cummings (Michael Ealy), along with their sergeant, Aubrey Stamps (Derek Luke), take refuge in the Italian village of St. Anna, harbored by locals who are resisting the Nazis -- who themselves surround the area. Train also protects an injured Italian boy he discovers while investigating a seemingly abandoned dwelling. Eventually, the soldiers make contact with their superiors, and are ordered to capture a German so that he may be interrogated about an upcoming attack. Lee adapted Miracle at St. Anna from a novel by James McBride, who also penned the screenplay. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

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56% liked it

16,081 ratings

Critics

34% liked it

118 critics

R, 2 hr. 40 min.

Directed by: Spike Lee

Release Date: September 7, 2008

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DVD Release Date: February 10, 2009

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Stats: 1,750 reviews

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Michael Ealy and Valentina Servi in MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA Miracle at St. Anna Matteo Sciabordi and Laz Alonso in MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA Derek Luke in MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA Massimo De Santis in MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA Miracle at St. Anna Michael Ealy, Las Alonso, Derek Luke, and Omar Benson Miller in MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA miracle at st.anna Laz Alonso and Derek Luke in MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA Laz Alonso, Omar Benson Miller and Matteo Sciabordi in MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA Pierfrancesco Favino and Sergio Albelli in MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA Miracle at St. Anna Director Spike Lee, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and John Turturro on the set of MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA official film still Omar Benson Miller and Matteo Sciabordi in MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA official film still Miracle at St. Anna
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Flixster Reviews (1,750)

  • TheDudeLebowski65
    June 12, 2010
    TheDudeLebowski65
    Band of Brothaz
  • paulsandberg
    September 29, 2009
    paulsandberg
    whoever wrote the script should be sentenced to 10 courses in remedial scriptwriting 101. What a mess - dialogue right out of a high school play, while beating us over the head with its message, and being completely unable to decide what type of film it wants to be.

    We take a... read more prommissing start, with some nice cinematic touches, sprinkle in some odd noir (Torturo and the reporter are right out of a Chandler novel), and then do a 180 into a not very intense war piece that is more about snafus and human frailties than anything else (the writer even feels compelled to explain snafu - good grief!).

    In attempting to explain all the bizarre situations, there are still holes a mile wide in the narrative, and often actors are left either over emoting or trying to get some kind of feel for the lousy dialog they have to speak.

    The final payoff is contrived and ridiculous, and the little "sermon" given by the savior's servent is laughable and cringe worthy (closeup into the camera - as if we didn't already know that this drivel was the "message").

    What a disappointment!
  • flixsterman
    August 21, 2009
    flixsterman
    2 hours and 40 minutes is a long time to endure a barrage of one-dimensional characters. Unlike other recent war films that vividly capture the chaos and mayhem of battle, Miracle at St. Anna seems contrived and overly scripted. This isn't combat through the eyes of sold... read moreiers, this is a perception of combat through the eyes of a director.

    As much as I admire Spike Lee, and as much as I really (REALLY) wanted to like this film, I just couldn't. This one is far too cliche to be taken seriously.
  • MovieGeek13
    April 30, 2009
    MovieGeek13
    Spike Lee shot himself in the foot when he criticized Clint Eastwood's two-film Iwo Jima masterpiece for not showing the role of African Americans during WW2. First off, the Japanese army didn't have any black soldiers, and second, Flags of Our Fathers does talk about how minori... read moreties were mistreated at this time, despite their contributions to the war effort.
    But Miracle at St Anna really is a great film, nowhere near as good as Eastwood's films, but still worthy of attention. It depicts in harrowing detail how all black soldiers were seen pretty much as Operation Human Shield throughout much of the war. Even the Germans were able to point that out to them. Lee also shows the division of black soldiers between themselves. There's a great scene where one soldier flirts with an Italian lady, and another onlooking soldier says, "People like him have set our people back almost 400 years." A little on the nose, but the line gets the job done.
    Lee has always been a very ambitious filmmaker, and here, he tries to cover the battle from all angles: the peasant Italians, the Italian renegades, the Nazis, the white Americans, and of course the black Americans. At times, the film seems to wander on tangeants, but the emotional impact that Lee is aiming for is never lost. Even as cheesy as the last sequence is, it puts the title into a lot of perspective.
  • cosmo313
    March 28, 2009
    cosmo313
    The story is very compelling, and, by what I'm told, the source material is also pretty good. I really liked the music and cinematography. I also liked the fact that this is Spike Lee's take on a war film. Although I do not always agree with him or his vision, I think Spike is a ... read morefine film maker. I am giving this film a reccomendation, despite the fact that it is a tad too long, a little unfocused and meandering in places, and that it had an unanswered plot hole or two that kind of bugged me. Overall, this is a good (but not great) film.
  • xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    March 12, 2009
    xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    Pretty good decent movie with a great story. Set in 1944 Italy, the story of four black American soldiers who get trapped in a Tuscan village during WWII
  • LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    February 20, 2009
    LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    "World War II has its heroes and its miracles."

    Set in 1944 Italy, the story of four black American soldiers who get trapped in a Tuscan village during WWII.

    REVIEW
    This movie was a huge let down, a diversion from the trailers and, like others have com... read moremented, hard to sit through. First, the movie was sickeningly violent when it didn't need to be. I think we know the Nazi's were ruthless. We don't need to see their gruesomeness up close and in extended scenes. What's the point. Second, the moral issues broached in the movie were handled no deeper than a freshman level human relations course. Even the racial overtones of the movie, usually Spike's forte, were trite and predictable. Lastly, given the first two flaws, Spike Lee's directorial methods, which normally are provoking, seemed overly pretentious.

    Avoid it like a plague.
  • YLOWBSTARDreturns
    February 18, 2009
    YLOWBSTARDreturns
    A powerful film from Spike Lee that could have been great if the overall product wasn't marred by some major flaws; most notably pacing issues, weak editing, and some bizarre stylistic choices. While it's disappointing to think about the film that could have been, this is still ... read morea very good effort that I found quite involving and unique, with a take on WWII that I have never seen before.

    The reviews were definately way too hard on this one; most likely due to the whole Clint Eastwood fiasco.
  • sanjurosamurai
    October 5, 2008
    sanjurosamurai
    i decided to watch this despite spike lee's tremendous hypocrisy surrounding the films contraversy. it was worth a watch and overall was a great flick, but it doesnt justify its long running time. the war scenes were gritty and effective and the characters were interesting, but... read more some of the coincidences were unbearable and the end was horrible. a must see but with caution as it is a bit overhyped.
  • moonrivers
    September 29, 2008
    moonrivers
    as Da Babe stuck out his big mitt and called his shot, spike lee is calling his shot here and swinging for the fences...and he damn near almost gets them. a character driven vehicle where the main action happens in a small town in italy near the end of the war, negro soldiers fi... read morend themselves accidentally through the nazi lines and have to make do with a language and a people they hardly understand. the germans don't want to be there either, food is scarce and nobody likes them. and the italians...they're unhappy, too, cause there's a war in their country and people are dying. yet everyone is trying to make their way the best they can---sound familiar? with a mad paintbrush driven by the Spirit of Art itself, mr. lee manfully tries the door of the house where bergman, kubrick, and...and...fellini live. you decide if he gets in or not. and let the viewer beware, there's a gut churnin' massacre scene herein, ala potemkin.

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Critic Reviews

Jonathan F. Richards
November 10, 2008
Jonathan F. Richards, Film.com

Lee is a filmmaker who, through talent, accomplishment, and a constant working of the refs in the Hollywood system, has earned autonomy over his films. I'm all for artistic freedom, but here he could ... Full Review

Ben Lyons
November 7, 2008
Ben Lyons, At the Movies

It's impressive that a filmmaker of Lee's distinction is willing to continue to push boundaries. Full Review

Peter Rainer
September 29, 2008
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

Clocking in at 160 minutes, this interminable movie comes across like a rough cut. Perhaps Lee believed its length would give it gravitas. The opposite is true. Full Review

Joe Morgenstern
September 26, 2008
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

Given the importance of that subject, the real mystery of Mr. Lee's movie is why it's so diffuse, dispirited, emotionally distanced and dramatically inert. Full Review

Ann Hornaday
September 26, 2008
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

Overwrought, overproduced, overbusy and overlong, Miracle at St. Anna finally suffers from the worst filmmaking sin of all: the failure of trust, in the story and the audience. Full Review

Peter Howell
September 26, 2008
Peter Howell, Toronto Star

[Lee] resorts to many of the same hoary clichés and fantasy situations he so frequently condemns. Full Review

Mick LaSalle
September 26, 2008
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

The impulse here is to say something about the nobility of this movie's intent or to note that Spike Lee is one of our best filmmakers. But the first and most honest thing to say about Miracle at St. ... Full Review

Stephen Whitty
September 26, 2008
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

Ultimately, the film falters -- due to its length, some unconvincing European characters and too many turns that depend on sudden supernatural intervention. Full Review

Lou Lumenick
September 26, 2008
Lou Lumenick, New York Post

The sad thing is, there's a perfectly fine, Sam Fulle-rish, 90-minute war movie on a worthy subject trapped somewhere in the self-indulgences of Miracle at St. Anna. Full Review

Elizabeth Weitzman
September 26, 2008
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News

Lee takes nearly three hours to tell this sad tale, but he never makes the most of the opportunity. Full Review

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Miracle at St. Anna Trivia

  • Set in 1944 Italy, the story of four black American soldiers who get trapped in a Tuscan village during WWII. Director: Spike Lee What is the title of the movie?  Answer »
  • Name the movie based on its characters... Staff Sergeant Stamps a.k.a. "Stamps" Sergeant Bishop Cummings a.k.a. "Bishop" Corporal Hector Negron a.k.a. "Hector" Private Sam Train a.k.a. "Train"   Answer »
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