Casual Critic Mini Reviews

Alexander (USA/UK/Germany/Netherlands) (Warner Bros) (2004) ***1/2Year: 2004iMDB

Director: Oliver Stone Cast: Colin Farrel, Christopher Plummer, Anthony Hopkins, Angelina Jolie, Jared Leto, Val Kilmer

Oliver Stone is guaranteed to not take the conventional approach on any subject that he tackles. This is what makes his movies great and this is their downfall as well when they do not succeed. Public opinion considers Alexander to be a gigantic disaster. At over 3 hours long, the movie does not have the Gladiator or even Troy-style epic feel that people were expecting, although it doesn't lack grand battles and confrontations.

Alexander tries however to show Alexander - the man, as much as Alexander - the conqueror and therefore focuses mostly on his doubts, the reasons that drove him to war, his relation with his troops, his homosexual tendencies, his mental sanity even. Perhaps we see too much of a torn man, of a man that had the ambition to conquer worlds not even explored until then, but whose ambition wasn't guided by a clear campaign plan which created permanent tension between him and his generals.

I cannot be enthusiastic about Alexander. I found it too long, slow paced and repetitive in fleshing out Alexander's character. Angelina Jolie's fake accent as Alexander's mother was distracting at best. But I will give Oliver Stone the benefit of the doubt and recognize his ambition to create a non-standard portrayal of a hero. Perhaps, after watching Baz Luhrman's Alexander the Great project in 2006, with Di Caprio as the lead, we'll be able to tell if we're dealing with a flop or a misunderstood masterpiece.