Review of IMDb Top 250 Films - Glory (1989)

I intend to conduct a review of the top 250 films on the IMDb database. At a rate of two per month this will still take forever as the list constantly changes. I don't claim to be a very knowledgeable or intellectual film critic but have tremendous confidence in my ability to discern good direction, script and acting, and to expose films which have enjoyed / endured an undeserved reputation in my perhaps arrogant opinion. There may be a few minor spoilers in my reviews.

Glory - Rating: 3.5 out of 6

The powerful first scene shows effectively the futility of civil war to today’s unified America and things improve from here. The first scene exclusively with the black soldiers is excellent: good, smooth, unstilted dialogue. Great turn too from John Finn as the interesting and genuinely three-dimensional seargent-major. More good scenes follow: where Major Forbes (Cary Elwes) challenges the Captain over harsh treatment, the latter tells us why he took on this role and why the black soldiers are to be so respected and encouraged to do well, perversely by very harsh treatment if necessary; contrast this view with the excellent scene-stealing Denzel Washington’s Pvt. Trip’s apparent opinion that they are just being used by the Whites. Following on from this is the engrossing scene when Thomas (Andre Braugher) is knocked down by the Seargent-Major; the fall-out expresses some of the tensions within the company.

Not all is promising: music is used to accentuate the drama which is always a bad sign; as a rule a good film needs music to complement, not enhance it. An example is when the Captain asks “how many are left?” the morning after telling his soldiers the Confederacy will make any captured negroes slaves and kill any caught in uniform: the music becomes louder and more evocative to enhance what a good film should make us feel already.

It can be difficult to assess Matthew Broderick’s performance as the Captain as it is so understated and, with a few exceptions, devoid of any passion. In this respect it can be thought of as being true to the time and to his rather undecisive character, and he is certainly intriguing to watch, but there is something about his performance that irritates: perhaps because such a method of acting in a leading character is out of place in an ‘epic’ Hollywood film such as this.

As 1862 turns to 1863 we enter the second half of the film which maintains momentum at first as the newly-uniformed soldiers start to see limited action under the captain’s corrupt and racist superiors. After this subplot is resolved, the film loosens up noticeably as we prepare for a big battle; there are poignant and interesting scenes here, but the Hollywoodisation starts to jar and ultimately the film just doesn’t have the tools to deliver the genuine depth and feeling it tries so hard to evoke at this stage of the film.

And then we get to the last 20 minutes which are by far the least entertaining: the earnestness of the build-up to the imposing battle is spurious, not least the music, and the battle itself seems to take an age to get going, such is the air of importance. Perhaps it exposes weaknesses in the film: that it did not make us empathise with the characters enough for us to really care what happens to them (Broderick‘s uncharismatic performance just one example); standard, unoriginal direction may have played a part here. And yet we reflect on the light and enjoyable earlier scenes and realise that inevitably this is where we had to come. The film as a whole becomes forgettable as a result which is a shame as the sum of its parts up to the final battle is worthy of considerable merit.