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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Third Miracle, The
EMAILPRINTSony Pictures Classics

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 23 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 2 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by:
Richard Vetere (also novel)
John Romano
Directed by: Agnieszka Holland
Release Date:
Theatrical: December 29, 1999
DVD: June 13, 2000
Running Time: 119 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for some language, sex-related and violent images, and brief drug use
Starring Ed Harris, Anne Heche, and Armin Mueller-Stahl
A priest (Harris), struggling with his faith, is sent by the Vatican to verify some miracles performed by a woman who has been nominated for sainthood.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Copying Beethoven Shot in the Heart
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
Has the gritty, intimate feel of an Eastern European film--and packs the power of a genuine revelation.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Here is a rarity, a film about religion that is neither pious nor sensational, simply curious. No satanic possessions, no angelic choirs, no evil spirits, no lovers joined beyond the grave. Just a man doing his job.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
So profoundly does The Third Miracle live up to its title that Agnieszka Holland's exceptional meditation upon a priest's crisis of faith might win the endorsement of archdiocese and agnostic alike.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Harris and Heche make an interesting team--- and the picture reaps the benefit of their creative performances
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
It's a handsome film with a palpable core of piety, but it isn't as successful in depicting secular events as spiritual ones.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
This intelligent, well-acted movie is not helped by the fact that its story in some ways parallels that of "Stigmata," the trashy supernatural spookfest that flared briefly at the box office earlier this year.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ella Taylor
Harris and Heche are simply electric together, and "Hill Street Blues'" Charles Haid is wonderfully brash as the venal bishop.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
The problem with The Third Miracle is that it is thematically ambiguous and never lays out its position on whether it thinks saints are or are not real.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Suggests that finding one good priest is a feasibility, but it takes a miracle to meet one as hubba-hubba as Ed Harris.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak
A foreign film feel despite its strong American cast.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
A flawed drama offering a rare look at the Catholic Church's canonization process.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Phoebe Flowers
It's not particularly plausible or well-developed, but it does allow the two seasoned actors to share a sexually tense, vodka-fueled scene at Helen's grave.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
Without offering any hard and fast solutions to the essential mystery, this is a thought provoking drama about the nature of belief and devotion that never feels exclusionary.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Jay Carr
Takes on provocative and stimulating subject matter, but can't bring it into satisfying dramatic focus, stranding three strong actors who are superior to their material.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector
This spiritual thriller is too wooden to be taken as seriously as was clearly intended.
Read Full Review >Film.com Peter Brunette
The first half of The Third Miracle is very good...but the second half of the film, alas, turns into deep TV-mode.
Read Full Review >Village Voice J. Hoberman
The first half has a nifty B-movie feel--it's a canny little movie with a big, big theme.
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson
Few other 1999 films are as filthy with tantalizing elements as Agnieszka Holland's The Third Miracle, and of those that come close, none other is as pointless, confused, or unsatisfying.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
It tries to be more existential than gumshoe but falls way short.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.0 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Pat C. gave it a 5:
Starts out kinda slow then fizzles out altogether. Similarly-premised movies have a feeling that the hand of God is a supporting player. That's not the same as being pretentious, which this film happily did not indulge in. But while it's no surprise if the clergy doesn't come across as credible, the lack of an omniscient being or indicators left me unconvinced the show was about anything really happening.
