Ultimately rather average

Rating: 6/10 (9 November 2013)

'Glory' charts Colonel Robert Gould Shaw's (Matthew Broderick) appointment to the head of a coloured regiment through to his battles with institutional racism during the American Civil War.
As a result of familiarity and the majority of the characters being quite bland, I found Glory's central theme of racism somewhat unremarkable. The flattest characters in the film were the troops of the coloured regiment, who should be central to the film. The problem is they're not, which is an issue. 'Glory' is adapted from Robert Shaw's letters to his mother, meaning the film is naturally focused on him. Consequently, the core subjects of the story are quite underdeveloped.
Morgan Freeman gives a very Morgan Freeman performance as John Rawlins, the measured, sensible and wise Sergeant Major, characteristics so typical of Freeman's oeuvres. Denzel Washington is more interesting as Private Trip, an angry runaway slave who's understandably embittered with the world and everyone in it. This anger manifests itself as bullying, he's always provoking people who threaten that chip on his shoulder. His wrath is felt particularly by Corporal Thomas Searles (Andre Braugher), an educated, well dressed man whom Trip considers an uncle tom.
Trip is a decent character and convincingly played by Washington, he conveys that pain and anger well; his Oscar winning turn is probably the best performance of the film. However Trip is, like the rest of the film, still somewhat unremarkable and overly familiar. There is one scene where Trip remarks how the regiment is 'the only family he's ever had', which is so clichéd and predictable you could see it coming a mile off.
What perhaps is worst about the film are the battle scenes. While there's a grisly headshot at the beginning and it succeeds in depicting the disgraceful death of the suicidal battle charges, it ultimately does not convince or affect. There's far too much choreography going on, whether its soldiers exuberantly throwing themselves about under cannon fire or the almost laughable scenes of contrived mêlée where the soldiers run about rifle butting each other like in some second-rate action film.
Mark Kermode spoke of how 'Glory' had 'visceral war scenes' that were 'long before Saving Private Ryan'. Indeed, 'Glory' was before 'Saving Private Ryan', but the latter heralded a new level of brutal realism, after its awesome 169 minutes you feel completely battered and depressed. I am very surprised that Kermode would compare this tame piece of work with Spielberg's stark WWII epic.
Despite my reservations, I wouldn't say 'Glory' is a bad film, it goes along just fine. Although I thought there should've been more focus on the black characters, it is Shaw's struggle to control and maintain his new regiment that's probably the most interesting part of the film. Although a compassionate man, he realises that he is now an authority figure, he must nurture a veneer of unwavering stoicism and power so the men respect and obey him. This means he must adhere to the rules of the time, including the ugly, violent ones. I was most engaged when watching Shaw wrestle with the officialism and racism of his regiment, however the men he commands are trite and boring.
While it may have been more profound in 1989, I felt that the film, although competent, was rather neutered and covered well-trodden ground.