Stirring, and disappointing

Rating: 6/10 (11 October 2011)

I find "Gettysburg" to be a moving film, and very interesting to me because of the subject material. However, every time I see it I am distracted by so many misses. At the top of the list is the facial hair on the many of the actors, which look like the products of a high school make-up artist. Martin Sheen, while a fine actor makes for a very poor General Lee; not only would several other actors look more like Lee, Sheen plays the general as some sort of spacey mystic. General Lee, while always the gentleman, was decisive in speech and action. Several of the roles are over-acted to the point of seeming like caricatures; Lee, Buford, Tom Chamberlain, and Armistead come to mind. The movie could not have been made without the reenactors and for the most part they do an outstanding job. There are times though when it is obvious that they lack the professional training to convincingly "pull a punch" while attacking the enemy. My heart would give this film eight or nine stars, but my head pulls it down to a six.