This is no Gods and Generals and Sheen is no Lee, much less...

Rating: 8/10 (2 January 2006)

I still have to give this film an 8 out of 10 because of all it is to history, but.....
Martin Sheen had no business playing Robert E. Lee. Duvall and William Schallert did the role proud. Was Lee flawed? Yes, we all are. Could Lee's judgment have been so grossly in error? Yes, but I doubt it was so pathetic as Sheen portrayed him. Come on! Give me someone taller than a elf.
Stephen Lang is riveting, which may have spiritually trained him for his role as Stonewall Jackson in G&G. He reminds me of the old timers I met in Kentucky as a child: ever positive; ever intense, in a kind sort of way.
Jeff Daniels took a little getting used to, only because I saw G&G first. He certainly looks the part. In this role he is quite a bit more believable than in G&G.
Turner's appearance is less of a pain in the butt here than his goofy smile in his other film. That said, praise God that someone cares about bringing these movies out. I'll forgive him his Hitchcock moments.
This movie, on the whole, took a little more getting into than Gods and Generals. However, it did suck you in. It did its job. It was a tale of the North, though. G&G gave our glorious South back some honour. It reminded us the meaning of living and dying in Dixie.
Frankly, give me Stephen Lang, Stonewall, and G&G all day long. Gettysburg makes good filler in between G&G and North and South viewings.