Das dritte Wunder

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)

Ed Harris plays the coolest priest this side of Toronoto. Most films fail to capture the time period the story takes place at. Here, the production value is terrific. The 1940's and the 1970's is done so well that is look like archival footage. Ed Harris is beyond great. Not only does he portray a priest, but one that is tormented with reality and his faith in God. Heche plays an equal role that is done well. A typical role for her, she plays it like she is playing herself. As for Ed Harris, this is one of his best performances that was once again over looked by the critics. The surprise ending is just that, a surprise. Most if not all the audience will not see it coming. A good story, with great acting and an uplifting ending, the 3rd Miracle is a winner.

Agnieszka Holland's `The Third Miracle' is similar in many ways to one of its film contemporaries, `Stigmata." Both focus on Catholic priests who check out reports of the supernatural. Both are plagued with doubts about the faith, and as a result drink too much. Their superiors are either corrupt or evil-or both. During the course of their investigations, the priests team up with women who are not believers. They fall in love. At the end the priests and women are somewhat redeemed.

The difference in the films is what the two priests are after. In `Stigmata' it is a force that is killing the woman. In `Third' the priest (played by Ed Harris) investigates the credentials of candidates for sainthood. If he can confirm that the candidate is responsible for three miracles, he can recommend that the person be made a saint.

Harris feels guilty because a recent investigation has led to an entire community losing its faith. As a result, he has become known as `the miracle killer.' But in the course of `The Third Miracle's' plot, which focuses on Harris' investigation of a simple woman in 1979 Chicago, he regains his faith.

Convinced that there have indeed been three miracles, Harris must then argue his case before a church tribunal. A skeptical archbishop who is convinced that such a common American woman should not be granted sainthood opposes him.

The climax of the film is predictable-the average moviegoer should be able to see it soon after the archbishop is introduced. Unfortunately, the movie tacks on an ambiguous ending that leaves us wondering if the priest and woman's redemption aren't the true miracles.

The film raises a final question: Has Ed Harris ever given a bad performance, or even had a bad scene? He is assisted here by two fine other actors, Anne Heche and Armin Mueller-Stahl.

`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.

The Third Miracle is the best religious film I have ever seen. It was moving and beautifully filmed. It raised issues about faith and doubt and I was enthralled by the journey the doubting priest (brilliantly played by Ed Harris) made towards the restoration of his faith.