Every major American filmmaker has a war movie inside them. After the twin triumphs of "When the Levees Broke" and "Inside Man", his biggest box office hit, Spike Lee puts his distinctive stamp on World War II. Though "Miracle at St. Anna" begins and ends in 1983, most of the action takes place in 1944. The segregation of the time leads to the Army's African-American 92nd Infantry Division. In Italy, four of these Buffalo Soldiers, Sergeants Stamps ("Antwone Fisher"'s Derek Luke) and Bishop ("Barbershop"'s Michael Ealy), Corporal Hector ("Jarhead"'s Laz Alonso), and sweet, superstitious Private Train ("The Express"'s Omar Benson Miller), get separated from their unit while fighting the Germans. On the way to higher ground, Train rescues a boy from the rubble. With nine-year-old Angelo (newcomer Matteo Sciabordi) in tow, the soldiers secure shelter in a Tuscan town, where they band together with the villagers, including lovely English speaker Renata ("Artemisia"'s Valentina Cervi), nurse the delusional boy back to health (he has an imaginary playmate named Arturo), and prepare for the next attack. Like "Inside Man", "Miracle" marks one of the few times Lee has drafted an outsider to write the script, in this case bestselling author James McBride, who adapts from his novel. The combination of sensibilities results in a film that alternates, sometimes awkwardly, between cynicism and sentimentality. Tonal irregularities aside, "Miracle at St. Anna" pays overdue tribute to the 15,000 men who fought for freedom in a country that showed them greater respect than their nation of origin. "--Kathleen C. Fennessy"