The strangest thing about Miracle at St. Anna is that the credit above the title says, "A Spike Lee Joint." Um, a Spike Lee what, now? Is that supposed to be clever? Or hip? Or ... what? Because, I mean, I thought this was a World War II movie. Sure enough, that's what it is. Or, at least, the story within the story is about the Negro 92nd Division in World War II. One of the soldiers of the aforementioned outfit is arrested and an ancient artifact, which he picked up during the war, is found in his home. And with that, the flashbacks begin. The movie looks pretty unsurprisingly terrific; after all, Spike Lee's a great filmmaker who's not afraid of looking at tough issues that are being ignored by everyone else. That said, it's a little strange that the man who was so critical of the way Clint Eastwood made his recent World War II films -- both of which were told using the frame (story within a story) technique -- would use that same tactic. You'd think he'd want to differentiate himself from someone whom he thinks didn't capture the war correctly by not casting any black actors. But this is what we get with Spike Lee, right? Excellent filmmaking coupled with public controversy and the bravado that no one else's films are quite as important as his. You don't have to agree with him to enjoy the movie, after all.

Reviews By People Who've Actually Seen It:
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