Plot In a Nutshell: George Washington, commander of the failing Continental Army, plans a daring surprise attack across the Delaware River on Christmas night 1776.
Why I rated it a '7': As I mentioned, it was entertaining enough. Jeff Daniels does a fairly convincing GW. It was filmed in Canada as modern-day Trenton no longer resembles the 18th century town. You get a sense of the perilous nature of the mission and the desperate situation faced by the Continental Army. I think the filmmakers could have expanded a little more on the string of defeats Washington suffered from July-December, amping up the desperation, but that's OK. You definitely get the understanding that they were a ragged, demoralized group by the end of the year.
The history here, though, is a little off. Several scenarios were portrayed that just never happened, and others omitted that did happen. The film was based on a novel by Howard Fast and maybe that's why? Idk I never read it. But the concern here is that people will watch the film and, because it involved a historical event, will think everything they see is accurate. Another reviewer here commented that this film is "excellent history." Well, not so fast.
Maybe the strangest part of the film was the fact that it did not mention Washington's entire plan. There were supposed to be three separate crossings, not one. There were two other groups of soldiers, one crossing north of Washington's contingent, another south, and all three were to converge on Trenton. As it turns out, the other two groups never made it across, but this film doesn't even mention them. Weird.
The film does show a confrontation between Washington and General Horatio Gates, which never happened. And it has Alexander Hamilton as Washington's aide-de-camp, also wrong. Hamilton was an artillery officer at the time. I don't know why he's shown here as an aide. James Monroe was there, but the film never shows him. OK. Washington had Thomas Paine's "American Crisis" read to the troops before the battle - again, not shown. And the battle began during a blizzard, also not shown.
But overall, I still enjoyed it. "The Crossing" does a good enough job of telling the story of the events leading up to the first Battle of Trenton in general, even if it veers off onto some weird inaccurate paths along the way.
7/10. Would I watch again (Y/N)?: Yes. For the entertainment value, not the history.
Why I rated it a '7': As I mentioned, it was entertaining enough. Jeff Daniels does a fairly convincing GW. It was filmed in Canada as modern-day Trenton no longer resembles the 18th century town. You get a sense of the perilous nature of the mission and the desperate situation faced by the Continental Army. I think the filmmakers could have expanded a little more on the string of defeats Washington suffered from July-December, amping up the desperation, but that's OK. You definitely get the understanding that they were a ragged, demoralized group by the end of the year.
The history here, though, is a little off. Several scenarios were portrayed that just never happened, and others omitted that did happen. The film was based on a novel by Howard Fast and maybe that's why? Idk I never read it. But the concern here is that people will watch the film and, because it involved a historical event, will think everything they see is accurate. Another reviewer here commented that this film is "excellent history." Well, not so fast.
Maybe the strangest part of the film was the fact that it did not mention Washington's entire plan. There were supposed to be three separate crossings, not one. There were two other groups of soldiers, one crossing north of Washington's contingent, another south, and all three were to converge on Trenton. As it turns out, the other two groups never made it across, but this film doesn't even mention them. Weird.
The film does show a confrontation between Washington and General Horatio Gates, which never happened. And it has Alexander Hamilton as Washington's aide-de-camp, also wrong. Hamilton was an artillery officer at the time. I don't know why he's shown here as an aide. James Monroe was there, but the film never shows him. OK. Washington had Thomas Paine's "American Crisis" read to the troops before the battle - again, not shown. And the battle began during a blizzard, also not shown.
But overall, I still enjoyed it. "The Crossing" does a good enough job of telling the story of the events leading up to the first Battle of Trenton in general, even if it veers off onto some weird inaccurate paths along the way.
7/10. Would I watch again (Y/N)?: Yes. For the entertainment value, not the history.