Gods and Generals (2003) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)

I don't know how it is possible to make a dull movie about Jackson. He was not only a great military champion, but was a truly eccentric man. I mean not just a flaky guy, but a genuine nutcase. For example:

• at one time or another, he had every one his major subordinates under arrest for one or another offense in his command.
• suffering from insomnia, he often used his own men as a sedative. When he couldn't sleep, he'd muster them from their blankets, march them for a few miles until he was tired, then march them back and hit the sack.
• he never took either credit or blame for his actions. He gave God all the credit for his successes, and he was quick to put the blame for any setbacks on his subordinates.
• he believed that only by holding one hand in the air could he stop himself from going "out of balance".

• he was known for constantly making pumping motions with his arms to increase circulation.

• he ate only foods he disliked, and constantly sucked on distasteful fruits.

• he never ate pepper because he believed that it made his left leg ache.

• he refused to sit down, preferring to stand because standing did not put his internal organs "out of alignment".

• he was compulsively secretive about his plans and movements even with those subordinates who needed to know. The same sense of paranoia applied to almost everything else he did. "If Mr. Perfect had bothered to tell me how he wanted the damn thing fought, I would have done it that way" said one of his subordinates after a lashing from Jackson's tongue. Jackson's explanation: "If I can deceive my friends, I can certainly deceive my enemies."
• although he was a notoriously slow learner, he applied himself diligently enough to gain entrance to West Point. Struggling near the bottom of his freshman class, he focused single-mindedly on his courses, and eventually graduated 17th in his class.
• he was a hypochondriac.
• he was a contentious subordinate.
• he was an incredibly boring and ineffective teacher.
• he was a pious, self-righteous man who condescended to everyone with biblical citations.
• he saw everything in stark black and white terms.
• he had no sense of his own vulnerability or capacity for error.
• he was unable to co-ordinate or co-operate with other commanders.
• he was a harsh and unsympathetic taskmaster who constantly quarreled with and berated his staff.

On the surface, the pious, dignified, slow-thinking Jackson didn't seem much like the profane 20th century genius, George S Patton, but the two great generals had a lot in common. Both were focused, single-minded, and aggressive warriors who didn't care much for sitting back and waiting for the enemy to make decisions. Neither had any sense of the possibility that he could be wrong. Subordinates hated them both as men, but loved the fact that they produced victory after victory. Above all, both men were nutty as fruitcakes, and often held imaginary conversations with non-corporeal beings.

Madness, a lack of subtlety, a lack of thoughtfulness, and an inflexible mind-set can be liabilities in certain professions. Hell, in most professions. But there are a few places in the world where a man with no self-doubts, no hesitation, and no predictability can succeed where rational, balanced thinkers fail. A boxing ring is one such place. A battlefield is another. Military strategy is a profession where even lunatics can achieve great successes, because their sane opponents simply can't anticipate irrational strategies. Hitler's perfectly sane generals were completely astonished by the successes of the Fuhrer's "insane" strategies in the early part of WW2.  Stonewall Jackson himself summarized it beautifully in his prescription for military success: "Always mystify, mislead, and surprise the enemy."

Although Lee was the real strategist behind them, Jackson's military campaigns were incredibly successful, and Jackson was the battlefield tactician. From the first battle of Bull Run until he sustained his fatal wound at Chancellorsville, Jackson fought battle after battle without defeat, often battling theoretically superior forces to a standstill, or even defeating them. Whether Jackson was directly responsible or not, the South was kicking some ass until Jackson died, and started losing immediately afterward.

A man like this should make for a great biopic. On the one hand, he was one of the most successful generals in the history of the world. On the other hand, he was as nutty as a fruitcake. Those very same two factors made Patton a great and complicated movie, one capable of pleasing both pro- and anti-war audiences. Unfortunately, Gods and Generals barely touched on those elements and spent most of its time on battle re-enactments (this film is a masturbatory fantasy for those guys who love Civil War re-enactments, and many of the re-enactment societies participated in the film, often on the actual terrain where the battles were fought). The film did touch on the fact that Jackson was a figure to be ridiculed in peacetime, yet the very same personality characteristics made him a formidable hero in wartime, but the script barely scratched that contrast, and played out more like a hagiography. Jackson didn't even seem very eccentric in this film, but rather just an incredibly boring, patronizing, self-righteous, deeply religious windbag.