This entry was posted on Monday, April 16th, 2007 at 1:10 am and is filed under Action, Drama, G, True Stories, War. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Director: Edward Zwick
Starring: Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Cary Elwes, Jihmi Kennedy, Andre Braugher, John Finn,
This impressive, true Civil War story was an early effort by Edward Zwick, who has gone on to give us other excellent movies like Courage Under Fire and Blood Diamond. Glory’s screenplay, written by Kevin Jarre (he also wrote another favorite of mine, Tombstone), is based on a couple of books written from letters sent home by Civil War Colonel, Robert Shaw, who is smoothly portrayed by Matthew Broderick. Broderick doubles as narrator, reading excerpts of Shaw’s letters talking about his experiences, and opinions, of the events around him. The screenplay is formulaic and sometimes emotionally manipulative, but this is still a great story with some strong dialog and outstanding performances. The film won three Oscars, including Denzel’s first, and is a must see for those of you who have missed it.
Robert Shaw (Matthew Broderick) is a young Civil War officer who, due to powerful family connections, finds himself offered command of the first African-American regiment, of the Civil War. His unit includes a tough unruly runaway slave, Trip (Denzel Washington), an older Negro named Rawlins (Morgan Freeman), and Thomas, an educated Black, whom Shaw grew up with in Mass. society. Shaw’s second in command is also a childhood friend, played by Cary Elwes. The insecure, and inexperienced, Shaw shows himself to be an excellent leader, and the men, motivated by their desire to fight for freedom, turn into good soldiers. The story builds to a memorable ending, that i won’t reveal here.
Glory should be enjoyed by most viewers, and may even get a grudging nod even by those who don’t like “war movies”. If this is not the best film made about the American Civil War, then I can’t think of which motion picture surpasses it, (though, Gettysburg does come close). There are several very powerful scenes and grand battles, that combine with the film’s other magnificent qualities to make this a personal favorite and film library staple for me.
