Poignant and honest, with Denzel best in show

Rating: 8/10 (28 March 2016)

1. The experience of watching Glory could be summed up by its music - there is an aching sadness yet a firm sense of patriotism in its soaring choral theme. This is reflected clearly amongst the story of black soldiers fighting for a nation, many of the citizens of which care little for their lives or sacrifice.
2. This is poignantly captured by the monologue of Private Trip towards this middle of the film; just one of many stirring moments contained within Kevin Jarre's screenplay.
3. Those words, when delivered by incredible thespians like Morgan Freeman or Denzel Washington, become something very special indeed.
4. I took one look at the poster for Glory and saw Matthew Broderick's wimpy facial hair and thought "this is going to stink". Fortunately, the story of the rich white kid leading up a black battalion suited someone significantly weedy and Broderick adds considerable dramatic heft to his performance.
5. Denzel is best in show as Private Silas Trip. He's a hard, cynical, somewhat belligerent man but underneath there's a man. This comes out most especially in Denzel's strikingly honest performance during the whipping scene and the final words before battle.
6. I love juxtaposition, and Ed Zwick does a killer job in the aftermath of the Battle of Antietam. Amid the howls of a man being amputated, Captain Shaw receives treatment for a minor neck wound (being told "this might hurt") and is informed of the great victory. With those screams and pleas, the scene is set.
7. Zwick superbly balances the film's central themes of acceptance without ever overdoing it. Something as simple as Trip helping Thomas stay on his feet is the pay off to the conflict set up throughout the movie. Where the black men fit in amongst the whites is clear from a scene in which a white officer shoots his own black soldier to protect a white Southern woman who he blames for initiating the incident anyway.
8. Rawlins' promotion to Sergeant doesn't feel profound enough because Trip was the one who showed leadership amongst the pay dispute and the shoes issue was only advice in response to something the audience and Shaw already knew.
9. The action scenes are dignified but have high stakes. Watching those bayonets come rushing towards you just looks like it hurts. There's some goofy choreography but for the most part the battles feel realistic. The decision (helped by real events, of course) to have several major characters die early in the final fight does a lot to keep the stakes of war in the front of one's mind.
10. Glory is over twenty-five years old but it feels younger. I hope that this is a sign that its message about acceptance and brotherhood is both timeless and universal.