A great flick

Rating: 9/10 (1 January 2005)

Go see this movie. It's interesting and intelligent. It's a great movie experience. I read a good many of the reviews here before seeing the film so I had a few trepidations going in. But after actually seeing it for myself, I really don't understand all the negativity.
I felt the movie was the right length and I had no problem following it. The acting was excellent. I don't understand the criticism of Angelina Jolie. She was given the role of the intense, scary, slightly crazy "barbarian" mother and I thought she played it perfectly. The accents were not an issue for me at all. The special effects and battle scenes were impressive, believable, suitably gory and exciting.
I was intrigued by Stone's exploration of Alexander's psychology and especially his relationships with Olympias, Hephaistion and Roxane. I appreciate this kind of psychological insight into a dry figure from history. Stone's references to Greek myth and his choice of Ptolemy as narrator were also interesting and appropriate.
A final point about the homosexuality. It seemed to me that in this movie the homosexuality was treated quite appropriately. It's indeed jarring to many of us 23 centuries later (especially in conservative America) to see how homosexuality could have been so routine, especially in a warrior society. Stone's treatment of it never felt uncomfortable or ridiculous. What would have been ridiculous, of course, is for Oliver Stone to make a movie about Alexander and not deal up front with this aspect of Alexander's life and times. Kudos to Stone for having the guts and intelligence not to shy away from this topic, although I suppose it cost him millions.
Anyway, like I said, don't let this one pass you by.