Long, all over the place, and bad hair pieces

Rating: 4/10 (23 November 2004)

After standing in line for over an hour to see a sneak screening of this film, I wish I had just walked away. But then again, if I had walked away I would have wondered what I missed, and then again after seeing what I saw I wouldn't have missed much. It's the chicken and the egg.
The acting was OK, but the what was with the accents? My husband was surprised that the ancient Macedonians were Irish and Russian. Colin Ferrel had the 1980's mullet during most of the movie. It looked like a really bad weave job. This cheap hair piece detracted from the lushness of the sets, locations, and special effects. I just couldn't look past his Michael Bolton hair.
Also, the attempt to make Alexander soooooo overtly gay detracted from the story. The audience kept waiting for Alexander to "hook" up with his suggested lovers, and were only rewarded with knowing "wink" shots and a peer pressure kiss he gave one of his slave boys who is the spitting image of the guy in the "Crying Game".
All in all, save your money and watch it on DVD in 2 months time. That way you can freeze frame on Angelina Jolie... the only truly visual gem in this film.