Pretty Good

Good movie but grossly overrated

From my favorite movies..

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

See Peter Heeling's comment Aug 2003 and you will find some brevity that lends great commentary and thought regarding this fine movie. I liked your comment immensely Mr. Heeling. Now, of course it doesn't cover everything without rendering the movie away. Sometimes we find a really good movie that is entertaining, thought provoking, and a work that sets up some serious adversaries played by actors with superior talent. As a great fan of Ed Harris' and Armin Mueller-Stahls, what more can one ask for. The Brilliant yet confused American Priest Postulate vs the just as confused yet in a different way, the haughty German Bishop played to the hilt perfectly by Mueller-Stahl. We just love it when he displays his "I got you last" comments on Priest/Postulate Ed Harris who is just as tenacious, maybe even more so. Harris is backed up by his corner man,his Bishop played by Ed Haid who really almost steals the entire show. You must see these guys at work with the wonderful bantering, the fight for the win. The cigar smoking, whiskey drinking Bishop Cahill played by Charles Haid just cracks the perfect fire on top of the candle. Yes, this cast is not to be missed within fabulous dialog, encompassing thought provoking plot and themes, voices raised up and miracles, well I wouldn't know about that. Would I? To top it off we get a gander at a terrifically beautiful up and coming actress, Ms, Caterina Scorsone. She is wonderfully messed up in her part, and yes a well done job delivering her roll. One really can not ask for a more enjoyable film. Everything seems to fit and yet the mysteries still remain throughout very nicely. One can not leave out a comment on an absolutely enchanting musical score. While this is a great movie, it certainly would not be as good without the finely tuned musical score that plays throughout. A copy of which, I can not find. Please notify your fellow movie lover and IMDb supporter if you know where I can get a copy of he score. Come to think of it Turner Classic Movies and this fabulous web site IMDb, are definitely two of the finer additions to the digital age and the world at large.

It was a treat watching this movie, being that I haven't checked out any low-budget or indie films in a long time. This is one of the lesser-known movies that is definitely worth watching. I was curious about it, mostly to see Ed Harris' performance. I've always loved Harris in everything he does, so I knew I could at least look forward to seeing a great actor at work. I have to say, this is one of his best performances. It's subtle and powerful, and he doesn't play his typecasted villainous role. This is a very different role for him, and one to remember. The premise and overall plot is intriguing, and Holland (I'm not gonna even bother spelling out the first name) does a fine job at keeping the suspense. It brings out great morals about Catholic faith, and faith in God just in general. And it proves that even people of priesthood can screw up, falter to temptation, but can still be summoned by God. Harris' character is a washed-up alcoholic, but God still sent him to investigate this alleged saint. Harris was even questioning his own faith, which made it even more interesting. "The Third Miracle" is one of the overlooked films of 1999, and I definitely suggest you give it a viewing. You won't be disappointed.My score: 7 (out of 10)

`The Third Miracle' tackles much of the same subject matter as 1999's `Stigmata' but manages to do so without reducing it to the level of horror movie absurdity. The stories of both movies revolve around a doubting, questioning priest whose job it is to investigate and either certify or debunk purported instances of divine intervention. However, `The Third Miracle,' because it treats the material within the context of a serious drama, emerges as by far the more interesting of the two films. Ed Harris, in a solid performance, stars as the man whose job it is to verify these ostensible miracles but who, like most movie priests it seems, has come to question his faith and to doubt his own worthiness to even carry out the task. Anne Heche delivers her customary fine performance as the cynical daughter of the woman whose potential candidacy for canonization sets the plot in motion. Indeed, the film is at its most intriguing when it allows us to get a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes nuts-and-bolts machinations that the church uses in determining the viability of sainthood. We watch as the Catholic hierarchy treads the fine line between faith in supernatural intervention and the more worldly concerns of pragmatic politics. We see the petty jealousies, character attacks and power struggles that reduce even the most ethereal of ventures to the level of basic human frailty. In many ways, this broader conflict reflects the one which rages on a more intimate, personal level within the tortured psyche of Harris' character himself. It is his internal struggle between doubt and faith, between the physical and the spiritual, between strength and weakness that manages to keep the many strands of the plot together even when the film, at times, verges a bit on the banal and the tedious. Happily, too, the film does not succumb to the fashionable secular cynicism that is all too common in films today. `The Third Miracle' manages to explore the many-sided complexity of this issue without trashing the spiritual nature of the topic in the process. `The Third Miracle' is not by any stretch a great film, but it succeeds in exploring a tricky subject without insulting the intelligence of the audience along the way. After `Stigmata,' we offer our most humble thanks for that.

As a person who has studied Christian theology formally, I really appreciate movies about Christians that treat issues of faith with respect and depth. This movie does that.Unlike most movies, The Third Miracle avoids either extreme of making the leading character too pious or too cynical. I highly recommend it to any present or former seminarian like myself.It was probably the best movie out of the dozen or more I saw in summer '00