The Third Miracle

Here is a rarity, a film about religion that is neither pious nor sensational, simply curious.

Though baroque and convoluted, The Third Miracle is a pointed exploration of faith.

Faces an uphill battle to make believers of its audience.

***A disillusioned Catholic investigates miracles associated with a deceased woman*** Ed Harris stars in this drama that’s similar to Tommy Lee Jones’ “Broken Vows” from a dozen years earlier. “Agnes of God” (1985) is also comparable. It could be viewed as sort of the Catholic version of Robert Duvall’s “The Apostle” from a couple years prior. It effectively illustrates a minister’s service in the underbelly of the big city and the challenges thereof (in this case, Chicago). For instance, Shore (Harris) observes a young prostitute enter some dude’s semi, and he just can’t sit idly by. His lowkey struggle with his faith is well done as he encounters a lively woman, who stirs much-needed life within him (Anne Heche). There’s a large graveyard sequence that’s particularly notable. Meanwhile the subdued climax elicits an almost ‘wow’ reaction when you realize what the eponymous miracle is. I’m a believer, but not a Catholic, and so I’m not keen on the idea of the beatification or canonization of a deceased person for sainthood seeing as how, in the Scriptures, any genuine person of God is called a saint, whether Old or New Testament. What Catholics mean by ‘sainthood,’ by contrast, is a believer who’s extraordinarily close to God and officially recognized by the Roman Church, confirmed by 2-3 proven miracles associated with him/her. So, it comes down to the unique terminology a…