Luke Hopkins

They did an impressive job of telling the story, getting a lot of the battle and the place on the screen, and doing a fair job of explaining the geography, generals and strategy. I would praise it also for its ability to give both sides, to show the brother vs. brother nature of the war. The problem is the film loses sight of the why of the fighting, slavery is touched on twice, and by the end the movie seems to be rooting for the south which was very uncomfortable. Picketts Charge is treated with a mythic reverence, as if it was a heroic action, when in fact it was a foolish defeat and the union POV disappears for the last hour of the film. It tells the story with a wistful 'if only' voice which makes it feel by the end that the author thinks the wrong side won, in the end coming down on the wrong side of history. I felt like I was being asked to root for the villains. I didnt like it.