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Chiat
Reviews
The Third Miracle (1999)
Heartfelt film of loss and redemption, uncluttered by cliches.
The Third Miracle was a total discovery; I'd heard nothing about it before seeing it. From the early sequence in Slovakia which literally reduced me to tears, to its untidy and appropriate ending, this film refused to take the easy path for its characters and its audience, giving us an unflinching view of faith and loss, and the place those occupy in our lives. Performances by Harris and Heche are outstanding, as are the myriad of smaller roles. Mueller-Stahl is underused but always riveting; Charles Haid reaches perfection in inhabiting his role.
The title refers to the third miracle required to elevate a prospective saint from the status of beautified ("The Blessed So-and-So") to full sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church. The film follows the path of a priest as he first attempts to debunk, then becomes advocate for, the beatification and sainthood for a Chicago woman. In the process, he has to face up to his own many failings, the imperfect reasons for his own entry into the priesthood, and his lingering drive to break his own vows. Miracles are relative, yet must stand up to acidic tests. Harris finds his own version of miraculous through his exploration of the life of the potential saint, and takes the filmgoing audience along.
You'll have trouble finding this movie in the theaters; it should be out on video soon, one hopes, and I recommend it highly.
The Soldier (1982)
Holy Mother of God, save us from this movie
First of all, everybody's acting sucks. Considering the cast includes personal favorites like Jeffrey Jones, Ken Wahl, and Zeljko Ivanek, this says a lot. The plot is kind of like a bad acid trip, maybe a mescaline letdown - hard to tell. Everybody moves like they're underwater, and it's completely incomprehensible. The ski sequence was the best of the scenes, which frankly isn't saying a heck of a lot. I wept for Ivanek and Jones, caught like deer in headlights. Bet that ABC Movie-of-the-Week that they turned down to do this is looking like Bergman about now.