This was just a war-movie weekend, apparently. Not a genre I'm particularly fond of, but these are some sterling examples. Moving back from WWII, Glory takes us to the Battle of Antietam where we meet young Captain Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick). Shaw is a scion of Boston's elite and is afterwards tapped to head a new regiment, the 54th Massachusetts, the first black unit in the Army. It is intended as an honor, but Shaw knows that he will face significant challenges. He pulls his friend Cabot Forbes (Cary Elwes) to be his aide-de-camp and sets about to make a unit he can be proud to lead. Most of the volunteers are young and idealistic, like Shaw's childhood friend Thomas (Andre Braugher), even in the face of outright hostility from members of their own Army.
Everybody in this movie is so young! Denzel Washington still has a baby-face while Andre Braugher is so skinny he's almost unrecognizable. Morgan Freeman looks pretty much the exact same way, but with less gray hair.
Rob and I were recently in the National Gallery of Art so I could do research for a paper I had to write and he pointed out the relief that was sculpted in honor of the 54th Mass, mentioning that it was featured in this movie. At the time, it meant nothing to me since I hadn't watched it yet but it is shown through the ending credits. It is an excellent piece for conveying the inherent dignity and responsibility of these men, who were trying to do right by a country that didn't even really claim them. That takes an extraordinary amount of courage.
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