A Midnight Clear (1992)

William Wharton's autobiographical novel of World War II becomes a moving portrait of war's madness in the microcosm of a small intelligence patrol on the German front in 1944. The unit, composed of high IQ soldiers, is sent to scout ahead. They discover a small platoon of Germans hiding in the forest, but these soldiers would rather fight with snowballs than guns and exchange Christmas presents instead of mortar fire. The young, rather unsoldierly Americans are offered the opportunity to "capture" the Germans without a fight--until a fatal misunderstanding plunges their efforts into tragedy. Director Keith Gordon, who also penned the screenplay, creates an unusually eloquent, offbeat platoon drama shot amidst the tranquil beauty of a snow-covered forest. His excellent cast includes future stars Ethan Hawke and Gary Sinise, with Frank Whaley, Kevin Dillon, Arye Gross, and Peter Berg rounding out the platoon. Though little seen upon its 1992 release, this moving drama received high praise for its vivid characters and delicately wrought imagery and remains one of the most powerful pacifist dramas of the post-war era. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com

Intensely emotional and different look at the impact of War

I watch this film every Christmas Season.Odd choice? Well, if you consider that the Season is about "peace,good will to all" then yes.A MIDNIGHT CLEAR is a look at the two small platoons of beleagured soldiers from America and Germany (who make it quite clear that they are not Nazis, and the F%$# Hitler!) who meet quite unexpectedly in the Ardennes Woods in December 1944 in the final year of WW2.The point of the film is to show that War is not all that some glorify it to be.This is a "different" approach to War, much like the recent LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA where human faces and emotions are placed upon both "the home team" and "the enemy." That both of these platoons discover each other at Christmas and exchange gifts,songs and negotiate a "surrender" removes us from the battlefield and allows us to examine the lives and the feelings of "greenhorns" weary of War.This film does not end on a happy note, but rather on an note of irony;War goes on and lives are still infected and affected.
The book from which this film derives it's source is autobiographical, and much more absorbing than the film, but the film still does an excellent job at recreating the intensity of emotion that is in William Wharton's book.One scene when they are "anointing" their fallen comrade is quite surreal!
A great companion film to this would be JOYEUX NOEL which tells a similar story about friendly troop exchange during WW1 and I believe to be the better of the two films.DAS BOOT is also another WW2 film that helps us see "the other side" as human.Warmongers will doubtlessly not find this film intriguing I should imagine! People of peace will! December 13, 2007

Great movie to watch during Christmastime

I always check to see if this is out on DVD around this time of year. I have read the book twice, so far back I cannot remember the year, then again a couple years ago. I passed it to my daughter who passed it to her friend and so on... to read. Have the movie on VHS but still wish this was available on DVD at a reasonable price. Only caught it on cable many years ago and never saw it aired again. One of the best movies I have seen. November 30, 2007

Not Your Typical Band of Ragtag Army Misfits Movie

As an Army vet, I can say that the characters in this movie are just as crazy and varied as you're likely to find in any military unit. Falling somewhere between the Dirty Dozen and Jacobs Ladder, this sleeper is not for everyone. It's pace is slow. It's full of surreal moments. But such is life in a combat zone -- I saw some very surreal things in Desert Storm. I'll admit the writers took it a little too far a couple times, but most of their risks worked, and these accomplished actors pull it off somehow. Overall the movie stands out as one of the great commentaries on war. If you're not too much of a literalist, I'd highly recommend this movie. January 7, 2007

Deeply disappointing.

A Midnight Clear (Keith Gordon, 2002)

Keith Gordon will probably be best remembered for playing Arnie Cunningham in John Carpenter's so-so film version of Stephen King's so-so novel Christine. Gordon, however, hung up the acting togs in the late eighties and went behind the camera, and it is here he has truly shined, turning out such brilliant movies as Waking the Dead and television genius on such series as House, Dexter, and Homicide: Life on the Street. The man has an amazing track record. So it's with some confusion that I regard those works where Gordon comes off as being somewhat less accomplished. A Midnight Clear is one of them.

Based on a novel by William Wharton, A Midnight Clear is the story of a World War II platoon (full of misfits, natch) who are ordered to scout out a mansion inside enemy territory. They encounter the enemy-- but not an enemy they expect. The survivors of a German platoon are in a house down the hill looking to surrender. The two groups spend a companionable Christmas together before they turn to the task of deciding how to get each other out of the situation they've found themselves in-- enemies in wartime becoming friends.

This is not your typical war film; characterization is much more important than action here, and as in many other substandard war films of this stripe (Hart's War and Tigerland immediately come to mind), it almost seems as if the director wanted to still play it as an action film. There's not enough real character development here to float the entire movie; we get to know our main character well enough, and the character upon whom the entire plot will turn later. We get a little less on the guy who's here for the purpose of building sympathy. On the rest of the platoon, very little, and on the enemy, nothing. We know more about the back-line lieutenant-- a minor character at best-- than we do about the Germans.

Not up to the standards set by either Gordon or Wharton. ** December 20, 2006

Real enough

This is one of those great little movies you discover once in a while. Too bad it's in full screen.
With all do respect to reviews that say this movie is accurate as opposed to those who say it isn't, I'm on your side but...
It's a story! A movie!
For example, We Were Soldiers is as realistic as possible portrayal of soldiers and their familys, Apocolypse Now is surealism, Full Metal Jacket and Catch 22 are satire. Unless a movie is totally stupid, judging it by how 'accurate' it is has been getting really irritating. It's a trend that's been going on since saving private ryan and it really misses the point of the stories and ideas being expressed.
It's like saying 'I didn't like Blade Runner because there are no such things as Robots' 'I hated Finding Nemo because fish don't talk."
I get irritated by bad continuity or crazy stretching of the truth but can we drop the 'accuracy' thing whenever we don't neccessary like the ideas being expressed. December 10, 2006

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