Subscribers Only Content Area

Home

New Movies

All Movies

New Videos

All Videos

DVD

Search

(About Our Ads) "MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA" (2008) (Derek Luke, Michael Ealy) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Minor Extreme Extreme Heavy Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Moderate Mild Extreme None Extreme Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Extreme Extreme Heavy Heavy Extreme QUICK TAKE: Drama/Action: A small group of American soldiers hole up in a small village after being cut off behind enemy lines in WWII Tuscany. PLOT: It's 1983 and Hector Negron (LAZ ALONSO) is not far from retirement working for the postal service in New York City. Yet, when he recognizes a man from his past, he shoots the man dead with an old German Luger. Rookie reporter Tim Boyle (JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT) shows up late on the scene, but manages to convince NYPD Detective Antonio 'Tony' Ricci (JOHN TURTURRO) to let him accompany two other cops to check out Negron's apartment. There, they find the head of a 450-year-old statue that's been missing from Italy since 1944. We then flash back to that year when Negron, a Puerto Rican, along with 2nd Staff Sergeant Aubrey Stamps (DEREK LUKE), Sergeant Bishop Cummings (MICHAEL EALY) and Private First Class Sam Train (OMAR BENSON MILLER) are members of the 92nd Infantry division, a.k.a. the Buffalo soldiers, patrolling in Tuscany, Italy. Due to a surprise German attack and the ineptitude of their white commanding officer, Captain Nokes (WALTON GOGGINS), they end up cut off from the rest of their regiment. To complicate matters, the gargantuan Train rescues a local orphan boy, Angelo Torancelli (MATTEO SCIABORDI), and refuses to give him up, even after they encounter some friendlies in a nearby villa. Although the gruff but proud fascist Ludovico (OMERO ANTONUTTI) isn't happy to see them, his adult daughter Renata (VALENTINA CERVI) is more accommodating. Even so, they worry about the place being surrounded by German soldiers who are not only after one of their own, Hans Brundt (JAN POHL), who's gone AWOL, but also the band of guerilla fighters, led by Peppi "The Great Butterfly" Grotta (PIERFRANCESCO FAVINO) and his right-hand man, Rodolfo (SERGIO ALBELLI), who are constantly ambushing the Nazis. From that point on and as Angelo becomes increasingly distressed by the arrival of Peppi and his men who've captured Brundt, the American soldiers must not only contend with their perilous situation, but also that they're part of a black unit that's fighting for a country where they don't have any civil rights. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? They might be enticed if they're interested in the history behind the tale and/or are fans of someone in the cast or director Spike Lee. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For strong war violence, language and some sexual content/nudity. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: DEREK LUKE plays the most balanced of the men and the unofficial leader who tries to keep them safe from the Germans and is upset with Bishop over the latter reinforcing black stereotypes. MICHAEL EALY plays that sergeant who smokes, has sex with Renata after constantly being after her, uses profanity, and isn't happy about the predicament they're in simply because he sees all of this as a white man's war. LAZ ALONSO plays the Puerto Rican assigned to the otherwise all-black regiment. He's their radio man and translator who uses some profanity. OMAR BENSON MILLER plays the gentle giant of the group, that is, until he's outraged and feels the need to protect Angelo who he unofficially adopts. Keeper of the statue's head, he's superstitious. VALENTINA CERVI plays a local village woman who's initially wary of the black soldiers but ends up having sex with Bishop. She also smokes some. OMERO ANTONUTTI plays her cantankerous father, a fascist and Mussolini supporter who isn't happy with anyone, particularly the American soldiers who've arrived in his home. PIERFRANCESCO FAVINO plays the leader of a band of guerillas who routinely ambush the Germans. SERGIO ALBELLI plays his right-hand man who turns out to be in cahoots with the Germans and kills several people. MATTEO SCIABORDI plays the young orphan boy who Train rescues. Seemingly somewhat delusional, he often talks with his dead brother. WALTON GOGGINS plays the squad's inept and racist commander who makes bad military and other judgment decisions. JAN POHL plays a German soldier who saves Angelo, goes AWOL, and must face the consequences. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this war drama that's been rated R. Profanity consists of at least 21 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are uttered. Sexually related dialogue is present, as is the beginning of a sexual encounter with making out and partial nudity (breasts). Nonsexual nudity (breasts) also occurs in several scenes, while a scantly clad woman wants a man to come back to bed and then straddles him in a chair. War-related violence includes people being killed by various means (mostly gunfire, but also explosions, stabbings, etc.) and much of that has extremely bloody and gory results. Some of that violence is very disturbing in its graphic nature and those scenes and moments of potential peril might also be suspenseful to viewers. All sorts of bad attitudes (racism, Nazism, etc.) are present, and some of that and various actions might be enticing for some kids to imitate, while various characters smoke and some drinking also occurs. Tense family material is present, as are all sorts of thematic elements to discuss. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there are varying amounts of handheld camerawork in the film (sometimes fairly bouncy). ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Bishop jokes about beer and something else being on the other side of a potentially dangerous river crossing. Miscellaneous people have wine at some sort of church festival. Bishop also has some, and Hector later walks off with a local woman asking about having some of that wine. Bishop tells Renata that she's "fine as wine." BLOOD/GORE Upon recognizing an evil man decades later, Hector shoots the man in the chest several times, killing him (we see blood on the man's shirt as well as some on a nearby marble counter and wall). In response to Stokes being a racist jerk who doesn't know what he's doing, one of his black subordinates secretly spits into his canteen before handing it to the Captain who then drinks from that. Germans open fire on the Buffalo Soldiers as they're crossing a shallow river. Many people are hit by various sorts of gunfire, while those infantry men also return fire, shooting various Germans. Artillery and mortar shots also land near the black soldiers, while grenades are thrown back at the enemy (including blowing off one German's arm). Nokes doesn't believe a radio report from the Buffalo Soldiers regarding their location and thus orders artillery to be fired right where they are, resulting in the black soldiers being trapped between friendly and enemy artillery fire, with various bodies being blown into the air from that (and a man's leg is blown off, with a view then of the bloody stump). More people are then shot with machine guns, rifles and such. There are varying amounts of bloody results from this (including that missing arm with a bloody stump), the view of many dead bodies (seen in the flowing water and elsewhere) as well as some blood on Tank's face from someone else. Angelo has some bloody scrapes on his face after part of a barn roof collapses on him. Angelo appears to be urinating, but his back is to the camera and nothing is seen nor heard. In a flashback, German troops gather many locals (including women, children and old people) at a church and demand that someone give up information on Peppi and his men. When they don't, an officer places his gun to the priest's head and graphically executes him (with blood out, etc.), followed by the soldiers mowing down all of the locals with machine guns (lots of blood on them, some on the church's exterior wall, etc.). Angelo's brother tries running away, but is shot dead by a German officer (we see blood on the boy's clothing). Rodolfo stabs a prisoner in the neck (with blood spurting out) and slices Hector on his, but the wound isn't fatal. We see Nokes dragging a bloody, dead body back into the village. A jeep suddenly explodes after being hit by some sort of enemy fire, while another is riddled with machine gun fire, with bloody results. A multi-minute combat scene then follows that, with Germans shooting soldiers and villagers, and soldiers shooting Germans (with Stamps hitting at least two with a grenade that blows them into the air). Many people (including most of the main cast) are shot and killed (with varying amounts of bloody results) while trying to avoid and/or battle the Germans. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Upon recognizing an evil man decades later, Hector shoots the man dead. We learn that Hector brought back a 450-year-old statue's head from Italy after the War and has been keeping it in his apartment ever since. We see that an art collector deals in Nazi art since it's a lucrative business. A German propaganda woman broadcasts over the air to the Buffalo Soldiers who are in Tuscany. She tries to turn them against America via various ploys, including that white men are back home in their bedrooms raping their wives and daughters. She also said that fried chicken and other stereotypical "black" foods await them if they give up. In response to Stokes being a racist jerk who doesn't know what he's doing, one of his black subordinates secretly spits into his canteen before handing it to the Captain who then drinks from that. The Nazis obviously have bad attitudes for their actions in the War, while all of the racists have the same. Nokes doesn't believe a radio report from the Buffalo Soldiers regarding their location and thus orders artillery to be fired right where they are. Various black men use the term "nigger" to refer to other black men, while a white officer refers to "Eleanor Roosevelt niggers." Ludovico is a fascist who believes that Mussolini was a great man for Italy. Upon seeing Renata, one of the soldiers makes some sort of comment about a good time in bed. A German officer orders a directive that 10 Italians be executed for each German who is killed. When his subordinate states that means innocent people will be killed and thus the Geneva Convention violated, the officer doesn't care. A white man refers to Train as a "big beast." We see a flashback to the Buffalo Soldiers stopping at an ice cream parlor in the states where the white owner doesn't want to serve them (but does serve German POWs brought there by MPs) and uses various racist epithets ("big baboon," "animals," etc.) toward them (both in their presence and after they leave). To get the latter to occur, he pulls a handgun on them. After leaving, they reconsider, return there, and pull their military weapons on the owner and other men (who hold rifles) in order to be served. A black man refers to a racist white man as a "cracker." The black soldiers look at various propaganda posters done by the Germans showing stereotypical racist images of black people. We see that many German soldiers are approaching the village, as does Rodolfo, but he lies to the others that everything is okay. We see that Rodolfo is in cahoots with the Germans. Nokes orders Train to leave Angelo behind, referring to the boy as a "Dago wop kid." Train refuses, and grabs another soldier by the neck, lifting him from the ground and choking him when he slowly approaches to get the boy. Nokes then pulls his handgun as if to shoot the boy, but Train shields the kid and the others aim their guns at Nokes. After dragging a dead body into the village (where the black soldiers were supposed to keep him alive), Nokes asks, "Is this some kind of minstrel show?" A court case lawyer puts a judge in his place by telling him to cooperate if he wants a promotion to a higher bench (meaning she works for people who can influence that). FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" and/or "Blood/Gore" may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to viewers, especially younger ones and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. Various members of the Buffalo Soldiers cautiously patrol the fields of Tuscany in WWII. We see a flashback to the Buffalo Soldiers stopping at an ice cream parlor in the states where the white owner doesn't want to serve them and makes them leave at gunpoint. After leaving, they reconsider, return there, and pull their military weapons on the owner and other men (who hold rifles) in order to be served. There's a gun standoff between Stamps and his men and Peppi and his men. That happens again moments later, but no shots are fired. We see that many German soldiers are approaching the village, as does Rodolfo, but he lies to the others that everything is okay. In a flashback, German troops gather many locals (including women, children and old people) at a church and demand that someone give up information on Peppi and his men. When they don't, an officer places his gun to the priest's head and graphically executes him (with blood out, etc.), followed by the soldiers mowing down all of the locals with machine guns (lots of blood on them, some on the church's exterior wall, etc.). They then walk through the bodies, shooting any potential survivors (we see and hear the shots, but not the impact on the bodies). We then see a baby crying at its mother's breast (she's dead) and a soldier kills the child with his bayonet (we hear the act and see the motion, but don't see the actual killing). Nokes orders Train to leave Angelo behind, referring to the boy as a "Dago wop kid." Train refuses, and grabs another soldier by the neck, lifting him from the ground and choking him when he slowly approaches to get the boy. Nokes then pulls his handgun as if to shoot the boy, but Train shields the kid and the others aim their guns at Nokes. A jeep suddenly explodes after being hit by some sort of enemy fire, while another is riddled with machine gun fire, with bloody results. A multi-minute combat scene then follows that, with Germans shooting soldiers and villagers, and soldiers shooting Germans (with Stamps hitting at least two with a grenade that blows them into the air). Many people (including most of the main cast) are shot and killed (with varying amounts of bloody results) while trying to avoid and/or battle the Germans. At the end of this, a German soldier aims his gun at a wounded Hector, but an officer stops him. That man then pulls his handgun, but hands it to Hector and tells him to defend himself and then leaves with the rest of the Germans. GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns/Rifles/Machine guns/Shotgun/Hand grenades/Mortars/Artillery/Knives: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound and/or kill others and/or cause property damage. See "Violence" for details. Peppi holds his rifle on some men, but he's just playing around as they're part of his group. We see various propaganda posters done by the Germans showing Roosevelt and Churchill as diabolical villains holding guns, etc. There's a gun standoff between Stamps and his men and Peppi and his men. That happens again moments later, but no shots are fired. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Shut (him) the f*ck up," "I want my m*therf*cking money," "What the f*ck are you doing?" "M*therf*cker," "All f*cked up," "F*cking swine," "G*ddman Kraut f*cker," "Let's get the f*ck out of here," "You f*cked up big time," "You dropped the f*cking ball," "Piece of sh*t," "That sh*t is moving," "This sh*t is heavy as hell," "I'm up sh*t creek," "Sh*t nigger, you crazy," "I don't have time for this sh*t," "I sh*t on Hitler's mother," "No sh*t," "That's some bullsh*t," "Blow your noodle like Satchmo," "Damn whore," "Yanking those Krauts' c*cks," "Miss loosey goosey," "Till Hell freezes over," "A hell of a war," "What the hell /is this?" "Schmuck," "Where the hell /did you get this/are you?" "Nut house," "Get off me, sniper-bait," "Lying bastard," "That G*ddamn bitch is gonna start a race riot," "Kraut," "Shut up," "Chocolate giant," "Nigger" (said by black and white people), "You damn fool," "I think your cheese done slid off your biscuit," "Eleanor Roosevelt nigger," "Aren't you the dandy?" "Big beast," "Arrive-damn-derci," "Hell no," "Shove it up your ass," "Nigger, please," "Big baboon," "Animals," "To hell in a hand basket," "Cracker," "Holy hell," "Whoopty-damn-do," "Mind your own G*ddamn business" and "Dago wop kid." Some kids might be enticed to imitate the racism that occurs and/or various bits of action and stunts. In response to Stokes being a racist jerk who doesn't know what he's doing, one of his black subordinates secretly spits into his canteen before handing it to the Captain who then drinks from that. A person gives the "F-U" gesture (hand to the inside of the other arm and bending the latter upward). JUMP SCENES A soldier is suddenly shot. A jeep suddenly explodes. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A heavy amount of suspenseful, ominous, and heavily dramatic music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 21 "f" words (6 used with "mother"), 17 "s" words, 4 slang terms using male genitals ("c*ck," "lollipop" and possibly "noodle"), 2 using female ones ("p*ssy"), 20 hells, 7 damns, 4 asses, 2 S.O.B.s, 1 crap, 20 uses of "G-damn," 2 of "My God" and 1 use each of "Christ," "Good God," "Good Lord," "Holy mother of God," "Honest to Jesus," "Oh for Christ's sake," "Oh God," "Oh Jesus," "Oh Lord" and "Oh my God." SEX/NUDITY A new reporter makes some sort of comment about "blowing your noodle like Satchmo" to a detective about trying to get info from the latter about Hector shooting someone dead. We see a woman lying on her stomach (a side shot) in some sexy lingerie, telling an art dealer to come back to bed. He states he needs a break, so she gets up and walks toward him (frontal view showing cleavage, the back view showing a thong bottom beneath some sort of sheer negligee). She then straddles him facing forward and starts kissing him with some movement. A German propaganda woman shows a lot of cleavage while broadcasting over the air to the Buffalo Soldiers who are in Tuscany. She tries to turn them against America via various ploys, including that white men are back home in their bedrooms raping their wives and daughters. After mentioning food, she suggestively states that two white biscuits are "right here for you" (presumably referring to her breasts), and that German women like "big bucks" and "lollipops" (twice as slang for male genitals). Upon seeing Renata, one of the soldiers makes some sort of comment about a good time in bed. In response to a racist white owner serving German POWs ice cream but not them, one of the black soldiers sarcastically comments on that white owner "yanking those Krauts' c*cks." When Renata notes that the black soldiers are different that most Americans, one says they're the same, but Bishop adds that they're different where it counts (a penis reference). He adds that if she went colored on a Harlem Saturday night, she'd want nothing else. She doesn't understand what any of that means and he suggestively says he could show her. Later, Stamps is upset about that, saying Bishop is only reinforcing stereotypes by wanting to stick his penis in everything (or something along those lines). We see miscellaneous cleavage. Renata removes her shirt outdoors while doing the laundry and doesn't try to hide her bare breasts from Stamps. He somewhat averts his eyes, with her then asking, "What, you've never seen a woman's breasts before?" She then puts on another top. Bishop comments on Stamps missing his chance for some "p*ssy." Bishop tells Renata, "Let me trim your guard" (or something like that) and she then takes him back to her place. They passionately kiss standing up and start to undress each other, with him lifting her skirt to pull her panties down (no nudity there) and then her top is off (we see bare breasts). He then gets between her legs and starts to lie down on her, but the scene cuts away at that point. A dead woman's bare breast is seen (she had apparently been breast-feeding before being shot to death). We see Bishop coming out of Renata's place, belting up his pants and making some comment about her "p*ssy" to Stamps. Renata then comes out, wearing Bishop's helmet and holding his gun, with Stamps referring to her as "Miss Loosey Goosey." SMOKING Bishop smokes nearly 10 times, Rodolfo smokes several times, Renata smokes once, and some minor/miscellaneous characters also smoke (including a cigar). Bishop offers Renata a cigarette, and she takes one, but says one shouldn't smoke in church, so Bishop walks off. TENSE FAMILY SCENES We hear that Hector's wife died sometime in the past. There's talk of one man's dead brother. Angelo keeps talking to his dead brother. When asked about his parents, Angelo starts to cry (due to them being dead). Angelo's brother tries running away, but is shot dead by a German officer (we see blood on the boy's clothing). A German soldier then tries shooting the officer before running off, with many others shooting at him (they miss), while Angelo hides in fright. After being shot, Angelo sees and interacts with his dead brother. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT The real life Buffalo Soldiers and their role and duty in WWII. Nazism. Racism. Not intended in a racist fashion, Angelo is surprised (and somewhat delusional due to part of a barn's roof having just fallen on him) to see Tank and refers to him as a "chocolate giant," says he'll give him a banana, and then licks his face. About WWII, Bishop states that it's a white man's war. Ludovico is a fascist who believes that Mussolini was a great man for Italy. War propaganda. Stamps commenting on the irony of feeling more free in Italy than in America. We hear that Bishop is a preacher who's lost his faith due to all of the killing that's occurring in the war. VIOLENCE We see a distant view of some dead soldiers hanging from ropes in an old John Wayne movie (no blood). Upon recognizing an evil man decades later, Hector shoots the man in the chest several times, killing him (we see blood on the man's shirt as well as some on a nearby marble counter and wall). Germans open fire on the Buffalo Soldiers as they're crossing a shallow river. Many people are hit by various sorts of gunfire, while those infantrymen also return fire, shooting various Germans. Artillery and mortar shots also land near the black soldiers, while grenades are thrown back at the enemy (including blowing off one German's arm). Nokes doesn't believe a radio report from the Buffalo Soldiers regarding their location and thus orders artillery to be fired right where they are, resulting in the black soldiers being trapped between friendly and enemy artillery fire, with various bodies being blown into the air from that (and a man's leg is blown off, with a view then of the bloody stump). More people are then shot with machine guns, rifles and such. There are varying amounts of bloody results from this (including that missing arm with a bloody stump), the view of many dead bodies (seen in the flowing water and elsewhere) as well as some blood on Tank's face from someone else. Bishop and Stamps find themselves separated from the rest, and try to take cover as artillery shots land all around them. They also land near Angelo in a barn, eventually resulting in part of the roof collapsing down onto the boy, pinning him to the ground. Tank uses great effort to rescue him, but a German soldier enters the barn and tries shooting Tank, but he shoots that man dead instead. Another artillery shell then explodes near or in the barn, resulting in Bishop believing Tank to be dead. Rocks are thrown at a building holding a captured German soldier. To make the protestors stop and leave, Peppi comes out and fires his machine gun into the air. We see a flashback to Peppi and his men ambushing some German soldiers, shooting all of them dead. The last one is hit by a shotgun blast, followed by the shooter repeatedly stabbing a knife (in graphic fashion) into the dead man's body. A door is kicked in, a grenade thrown in (resulting in an explosion) and then shots are fired into the building, but it's reported that no one is there. In a flashback, German troops gather many locals (including women, children and old people) at a church and demand that someone give up information on Peppi and his men. When they don't, an officer places his gun to the priest's head and graphically executes him (with blood out, etc.), followed by the soldiers mowing down all of the locals with machine guns (lots of blood on them, some on the church's exterior wall, etc.). They then walk through the bodies, shooting any potential survivors (we see and hear the shots, but not the impact on the bodies). We then see a baby crying at its mother's breast (she's dead) and a soldier kills the child with his bayonet (we hear the act and see the motion, but don't see the actual killing). Angelo's brother tries running away, but is shot dead by a German officer (we see blood on the boy's clothing). A German soldier then tries shooting the officer before running off, with many others shooting at him (they miss), while Angelo hides in fright. Rodolfo stabs a prisoner in the neck (with blood spurting out) and slices Hector on his, but the wound isn't fatal. Rodolfo and Peppi get into a heated argument, with the former shooting the latter to death, followed by a soldier shooting at Rodolfo as he flees. Bishop and Stamps get into a fight over the former having sex with Renata. Punches are thrown and struggling ensues until they're separated. Nokes orders Train to leave Angelo behind, referring to the boy as a "Dago wop kid." Train refuses, and grabs another soldier by the neck, lifting him from the ground and choking him when he slowly approaches to get the boy. Nokes then pulls his handgun as if to shoot the boy, but Train shields the kid and the others aim their guns at Nokes. A jeep suddenly explodes after being hit by some sort of enemy fire, while another is riddled with machine gun fire, with bloody results. A multi-minute combat scene then follows that, with Germans shooting soldiers and villagers, and soldiers shooting Germans (with Stamps hitting at least two with a grenade that blows them into the air). Many people (including most of the main cast) are shot and killed (with varying amounts of bloody results) while trying to avoid and/or battle the Germans. At the end of this, a German soldier aims his gun at a wounded Hector, but an officer stops him. That man then pulls his handgun, but hands it to Hector and tells him to defend himself and then leaves with the rest of the Germans. Reviewed September 22, 2008 / Posted September 26, 2008