Great intentions, some harsh realism, but uneven writing and a few avoidable clichés

Rating: 7/10 (4 June 2010)

Saints and Soldiers (2003)
A World War II movie made in the 21st Century has to have something new to say, and this one attempts to do that with gritty, intimate realism. It succeeds in that, to some extent, but it also has some familiar clichés in the dialog and the general plot details which cover familiar ground.
The scenario starts with some fast cutting that creates a sense of danger and drama with some sacrifice of logic. We just know things go badly for the Americans. Then it follows some stragglers who have survived, and things grow gradually more coherent. As the men come to know, and not completely like, each other, they form bonds that get tested, and there is heartbreak and hardship enough for anyone.
What holds all of this up is a modern sense of full color, in your face hell. Not the hell of bloody conflict (there is a little of that here and there) but of fighting the snow and the cold and the fear of not making it, of dying. Some of the clichés really are a drag, however, such as a little cabin in the middle of nowhere where a bombshell of a French beauty is making bread by hand, a 78 record playing in the background, and she welcomes them (after a brief knife-wielding hesitation) with a kiss on each cheek. It's super sweet, but it's exactly what turns this movie into a fantasy now and then. Great intentions overrun with wishful daydreams.