I have mixed feelings about 'Gods and Generals' and think maybe it should have been entitled 'Stonewall' or something similar, as it revolved totally around Stonewall Jackson. Portrayed brilliantly by Stephen Lang, Jackson dominated this film - unfortunately to the exclusion of the sequence of events of the Civil War. We saw 1st Bull Run (possibly to explain why Jackson earned the nickname Stonewall) and then the film jumped to Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. So what happened to the Peninsula Campaign, and even more to Antietam/Sharpsburg, which was never even mentioned?
I disagree with other reviewers about Robert Duvall as Lee - he came over as pale and lifeless, never once did we see any emotion from him, even when he heard that Jackson had been badly injured. His comment that Jackson 'had lost his left arm. I have lost my right arm' was delivered with no expression at all. He may have looked more like Lee than Martin Sheen did in 'Gettysburg', but at least Sheen showed Lee as a man with deep feelings, which cannot be said for Duvall who was more like a cardboard cut-out.
Jeff Daniels, appearing again as Joshua Chamberlain, was as brilliant as ever, wonderful actor portraying a truly remarkable man.
I disagree with other reviewers about Robert Duvall as Lee - he came over as pale and lifeless, never once did we see any emotion from him, even when he heard that Jackson had been badly injured. His comment that Jackson 'had lost his left arm. I have lost my right arm' was delivered with no expression at all. He may have looked more like Lee than Martin Sheen did in 'Gettysburg', but at least Sheen showed Lee as a man with deep feelings, which cannot be said for Duvall who was more like a cardboard cut-out.
Jeff Daniels, appearing again as Joshua Chamberlain, was as brilliant as ever, wonderful actor portraying a truly remarkable man.