The very long road before Gettysburg

The Civil War spanned four years in the history of America; likewise, "Gods and Generals" will take about four hours in the history of cinema. At 229 minutes, "Gods" dwarfs all other movies out currently, "Lord of the Rings" being the closest in time at only a mere 179 minutes.\n"Gods and Generals" is the prequel to the 1993 TV movie "Gettysburg," and is adapted from the book by Jeff Shaara. Jeff Daniels reprises his role as Colonel Lawrence Chamberlain and Robert Duvall gives a great performance, filling in for Martin Sheen as Robert E. Lee. \nThe story line is basically the events of the Civil War from when Robert E. Lee joins the Confederacy until the Battle of Chancellorsville. Much of the movie's focus is on southern general Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson (Stephen Lang) who, for those who aren't up on their history, dies at Chancellorsville. \nSaying that, "Gods" is in an awkward movie to categorize. Its four-hour running time, plus intermission, could scare the casual movie patron, while at the same time, four hours isn't enough to cover all the important events leading up to the Battle of Gettysburg. The Battle of Antienam is ignored and it's the bloodiest day in American history, when more people died in the first day of battle than in the entire invasion of Normandy. This was explained to me during the intermission by a kind older gentleman who took notice of the fact I was the youngest in the aggregate population present.\nThere were also a few distracting flaws. Though the 1860s South was littered with racism, the characters in this movie were almost too politically correct. When a black housekeeper pretends to own a mansion to keep Union soldiers from looting it, the drunken soldiers apologize for bothering her and leave. It just seems unlikely.\nThis movie is aptly named though because most of the movie involves either praying or battling. The battles are well done and engrossing and the battle heavy second half went by rather quickly.