I was expecting very much out of the Civil War epic Gods and Generals, a prequel to Ronald Maxwell's 1993 Gettysburg. After the first 45 minutes into the movie, I saw nothing but an absolute waste of time. Gods and Generals surpasses the stupid political comedy Head of State as the worst film of 2003 thus far. Ronald Maxwell has generated a story of the beginning of the Civil War in which the audience shares no compassion for the characters on screen. Stephen Lang is bland and utterly dull as Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, a man devoted to God and his home. He is supposed to be a spiritual leader to the Confederate soldiers similar to that of the likes of George Patton. What we are left with is an actor who appears to be struggling desperately to portray an important character and produce a fine accent. The battle scenes are not even that great, but what else can you expect from a PG-13 rated war epic. Forget about a biography about Gen. Jackson, get to the battles, the bloodshed. At least we will be able to care about these soldiers. Even seeing Robert Duvall as Robert E. Lee is not enough to save this movie from sinking. Jeff Daniels is portraying the same character he did from Gettysburg but he is not as essential to the plot in this film as he was in that film. Many of the actors from the first film are missing i.e. Tom Berenger and Martin Sheen. Perhaps that is why the film sinks. I am personally a huge fan of American History and love when it is portrayed on the big screen. This is a film that could be a great 4-hour documentary on the History Channel. There is no story in his tediously boring God-awful mess which makes the audience feel less passionate about the characters. If Ron Maxwell makes a third portion documenting the end of the War, he must at least include a good story as he did with Gettysburg. If he doesn't, then young Americans will not see his movie nor will give a rat's ass about the Civil War. I thought I saw the worst in Head of State (which is also a mess of epic proportions), but I was wrong. Screw You, Ronald Maxwell, and Screw Ted Turner for allowing a story of American History to be made into a giant mess. This is a disgrace of a movie that without a shadow of a doubt could have been much better.
Lenny's Grade: D
Lenny's Grade: D