Lee appears to have been torn between making a character study and an action movie, so both elements get short shrift.

The intriguing (if not always successful) result is an oddly contemplative picture about a horribly bellicose time.

While the movie intermittently revs up for some showy combat scenes, its real mtier is a texture of fine-grained observation that brings history to life on the molecular level.

Lee may have chosen to relate a tale about the Civil War from the POV of the South (always an irksome angle), but it’s made clear that his loyalties rest not with either side of the cause.