Glory-ous!

Rating: 9/10 (21 December 2000)

This is a terrific semi-historical film set during the Civil War. Matthew Broderick portrays Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, who trained the first fully combat-ready Black Regiment for the US Army. This film depicts the history of the 54th Massachusetts and how they (including the White officers leading them) were disliked and even hated on BOTH sides. I think many people assume that the citizens of the North all loved black people and wanted to see them freed. The truth is, there were a lot of Northerners who were at best disinterested in the plight of the black people. Shaw had to fight a great deal of racism to get his men any basic equipment, uniforms and the right to become combat soldiers and subsequently to actually be utilized in battle. The Regiment ultimately made a strong contribution to the Union war effort. The film is superbly cast and very well acted. There are few really memorable scenes in the film, but there is one great scene between Trip (Denzel Washington) and Rawlins (Morgan Freeman). I thought that Jihmi Kennedy did a fine job as Jupiter Sharts as did Andre Braugher as Thomas Searles. I highly recommend this film to anyone!