The Third Miracle

The Third Miracle is a 1999 drama film directed by Agnieszka Holland and starring Ed Harris and Anne Heche. The film was shot in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia.^[2]

The Third Miracle
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Agnieszka Holland
Written by	Richard Vetere John Romano
Produced by	Fred Fuchs Steven Haft Elie Samaha
Starring	Ed Harris Anne Heche Armin Mueller-Stahl Charles Haid Michael Rispoli Barbara Sukowa
Cinematography	Jerzy Zieliński
Edited by	David Siegel
Music by	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek
Production companies	American Zoetrope Franchise Pictures
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Classics
Release dates	September 13, 1999 (1999-09-13) (TIFF) December 29, 1999 (1999-12-29) (United States)
Running time	119 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$591,142[1]

Plot

In Bystrica, Slovakia in 1944, near the end of World War II, an Allied bombing raid causes a tiny girl to pray for deliverance.

In Chicago, in 1979, Father Frank Shore (Ed Harris) is a priest, now a Postulator, who investigates claims of miracles for the Vatican performed by a devout woman whose death caused a statue of the Virgin Mary to bleed upon and cure a girl with terminal lupus. Now the woman has been nominated for sainthood.

Having never encountered a genuine miracle, he is known as the "Miracle Killer" for his track record for debunking false claims of miracles. Father Frank is suffering a crisis of faith when he is sent to investigate the miracles of a woman, the late Helen O'Regan who has been nominated for sainthood, and winds up becoming the greatest advocate for her canonization.^[3]

Father Frank uncovers a series of extraordinary events but the most extraordinary thing of all may be the "saint's" very earthly daughter, Roxane (Anne Heche). Roxane is a non-believer who cannot forgive her otherwise selfless mother for abandoning her at the age of 16.^[4]

Cast

• Ed Harris as Father Frank Shore
• Anne Heche as Roxanne
• Armin Mueller-Stahl as Werner
• Michael Rispoli as John Leone
• Charles Haid as Bishop Cahill
• Barbara Sukowa as Helen

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to The Third Miracle was released on December 14, 1999.

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"Interrupted Dream: Opening Titles"	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek	1:33
2.	"Bystricia At War"	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek	2:51
3.	"First Prayer"	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek	2:18
4.	"Frank and Roxanne"	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek	3:33
5.	"Before Your Eyes"	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek	2:53
6.	"Prayer At The Lake"	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek	1:27
7.	"Falcone"	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek	1:49
8.	"Domine Jesu"	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek	1:11
9.	"Call From Bystricia"	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek	2:12
10.	"Helen O'Reagan"	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek	2:49
11.	"They Call You A Miracle Killer"	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek	0:43
12.	"Meeting In The Hospital"	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek	2:59
13.	"Ordinary Woman"	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek	2:18
14.	"Maria In The Hospital"	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek	2:34
15.	"I Wanted It To Be True"	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek	2:15
16.	"The Confession"	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek	1:57
17.	"Unfinished Love Story"	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek	2:55
18.	"Farewell"	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek	1:09
19.	"Memories From The Lake"	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek	2:22
20.	"The Bleeding Statue"	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek	4:49
21.	"The Third Miracle"	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek	3:20
Total length:			49:57[5]

Reception

Critical response

The Third Miracle has an approval rating of 68% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 34 reviews, and an average rating of 6.1/10.^[6] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 55 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[7]