Wednesday, December 8, 2004

MOVIE - ALEXANDER - Review Rating $$ (OUT OF 10) STARRING - Colin Farrell (Alexander), Angelina Jolie (Olympias), Val Kilmer (King Philip), Jared Leto (Hephaistion), Rosario Dawson (Roxane), Anthony Hopkins (Old Ptolemy), & Christopher Plummer (Aristotle). DIRECTOR/CO-WRITER - Oliver Stone It's not surprising that Oliver Stone, the man who brought us Natural Born Killers, would want to get inside the head of one of history's greatest killers. What is surprising is what a poor job Stone did of making history, and Alexander, come alive. The story of Alexander, as presented by Stone, boils downs to having a Hollywood stage mother, a severe Oedipus complex, not knowing when to stop and an obsession with bisexuality. This psychological examination fails to capture one's imagination as a result of its shallow, repetitive and speculative nature. Being beat over the head with conjecture just isn't my idea of a good time. Lost in the psychological "intrigue" is a credible examination of the other historical factors that contributed to Alexander's rise to greatness. The opposing forces, decisive battles, with the exception of two major ones, and most of the Palace intrigue, are given short shrift. Stone even papers over most of Alexander's tyrannical war crimes with catchy brief rationalizations uttered by Sir Anthony Hopkins. This historical retrospective is about as fair and balanced as a typical Michael Moore documentary. Adding insult to injury is a cast, with the exception of Hopkins and Plummer, who are way out of their league. While Farrell is the current bad boy of Hollywood he has yet to live up to to his own hype. There's nothing in this performance that proves he is anything but a rather ordinary actor. Jolie is credible in her youth but less so as she ages and Kilmer isn't credible at all. All three lack the gravitas to play these characters. To be fair the script doesn't do them any favors. The only thing that Stone does accomplish, in Alexander, is to create a genuine appreciation of battle fatigue. At about the same time as Alexander is faced with a revolt within the ranks you too will be rising up demanding an end to this seemingly endless flaccid expose. Alexander is an epic waste of celluloid. Running time - 175 minutes Roger Ebert's Review Peter Travers / Rolling Stone Review Rotten Tomatoes Reviews 1:42:39 AM     | MOVIE - SIDEWAYS - Review Rating $$$$$ $$1/2 (OUT OF 10) STARRING - Paul Giamatti (Miles), Thomas Haden Church (Jack), Virginia Madsen (Maya), Sandra Oh (Stephanie), Marylouise Burke (Miles' mother) & Jessica Hecht (Victoria). DIRECTOR - Alexander Payne Sideways true strength is its attempt to infuse the buddy movie genre with insight instead of one liners. The bonds that tie these former college roommates together are very thin. This odd couple sticks by each other, through thick and thin, because they apparently don't have anyone else to cling too. That degree of honesty, in a "major motion picture", is refreshingly depressing. Sideways does have a few weaknesses. The degree of character development doesn't justify the two hour plus length of the movie. The wine aficionado subplot also lacks robustness. For all of the story's depth it fails to tackle the issue of alcoholism head on. Mother's Against Drunk Driving (MADD) would also no doubt be appalled by the script's failure to even remotely suggest drinking and driving isn't a bright idea. Sideways, like a good wine, has to be savoured to be appreciated. Upon deeper introspection, however, you'll come to the conclusion that this offbeat buddy film needed a little more flavour to be considered a classic. Running time - 124 minutes Roger Ebert's Review Peter Travers / Rolling Stone Review Rotten Toatoes Review 12:44:17 AM     |

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