The Third Miracle (1999)

In truth, any opportunity to see the film on the big screen is welcome.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Well, I don't know which rate to give this film. It may just not be my kind of movie, or maybe it is and it's really really boring. First, the story runs too fast since the beginning, but the plot isn't engaging or involving enough to make you pay attention. And there are random things like that guy masturbating in bed in the very first minutes, what was that for? Second, the priest is annoyingly indecisive; in one scene he implicitly states the doesn't believe in his religion, then in the next scene he's already praying? As if people changed their mind about religion that quickly in real life... And what about that 'saint'? She looked more like a witch to me. And I didn't even make it to the end to know if she was accepted as a saint or not. Don't even bother if you don't have much interest in religion.

There's a lot of that going around. This is a home organ for the catholic church. No problem. Just label it as such. Trying to present it as some viable miracle is about as believable as sticking pins in voodoo dolls for a curse. I really don't care what anyone believes. But there should be an "R" warning for religious hooey. Movies that try and portray "facts" as true, when they aren't, aren't enjoyable. For instance, when we watch "It's a Wonderful Life" we have no trouble in discerning that it is a fantasy. They needn't label it as "F" for fantasy. Or the Exorcist. We know it's fantasy. Or the Omen. We know it's fantasy or at least I thought it was before "W". But this movie offers no relief. It is a fantasy for the faithful. Fine. Tell me that before I watch it. I kept waiting for the pig's blood to be discovered instead of the red dye on the statue. Instead, we get a lot of complete nonsense from a 3rd rate writer,Richard Vetere, who just keeps chugging these things out on his mimeograph machine. I'll bet half of the audience, as paltry as the numbers were, left thinking that Helena was a real person. Well, to solve that problem, she wasn't. As for those fanciful bombs that never fell... they did... at the box office.

The third miracle is a well written tale with a great touch of sentiment. A priest saying G*DD*MN*D is like lung doctor lighting a cigarette, provoking, like a movie of this kind should be. It's meant to leave something to think about, for me it was commitment of an individual priest finding his way in mass traffic between his left and right ear. I enjoy these true emotions or behavior because i believe everyone on earth has a set of weaknesses. I like these true emotions and choices when it comes to mind digging. Surely it's understandable that heavy religious people might be offended -the Archbishop was in the Nazi's army, drove around in a limo like a king and thought he was God himself-, but it's not the bible, I see it as a tale in a Catholic setting.This movie is based on personal choices, activated by a game of chess between animal nature and common sense. Throw in some faith and a time structured plot, have it sequenced very well, put in some great dialogue and moody setting, you will get a well deserved great movie! I recommend this film, it's in a way uplifting. 8/10

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