An Epic Bore

Rating: 1/10 (5 December 2004)

"Alexander" is truly an epic bore with little if any redeeming qualities. In fact, it's worst quality is the extreme length. This film lasts a tortuous 3 hours and 20 minutes. One can count the minutes, thus Oliver Stone should be ashamed to have splashed this disaster on the silver screen.
There is such a waste of great actors. Anthony Hopkins is abused by his role as narrator. Christopher Plummer is wasted as Aristotle. Val Kilmer plays Phillip, Alexander's father. They all give an adequate performance, but there was so little to work with because of the weak production. The scenery is spectacular, but so is the failure of this epic drama. Perhaps the "R" rating will keep some folks away from the theater. I fear, however, that it will be used to simply attract the unsuspecting moviegoer. This would be a great one to miss. Staying to the end is a major challenge.