When did Mel Brooks change his name to Oliver Stone?

Rating: 1/10 (27 September 2009)

Wow...somehow Alexander passed me by when it came out and I've just seen it for the first time, in 2009. I couldn't remember hearing anything about the film, good or bad, except I seemed to remember it was generally thought Farrel was mis-cast. I am truly astounded that the film is not infamous for being the worst film ever made, for surely it is. From the very first second to the last it is truly appalling - the acting, the dialogue, the directing, the cinematography.... everything. Is it a deliberate parody? is it comedy irony? I swear, if Mel Brooks was going to make a 'Young Frankenstein' version of Alexander, this is exactly what he would have made. He wouldn't change a line. I had the same feeling with this film as I get when watching the early work of Leslie Nielsen - his work on Airplane! and Police Squad (I suppose I have to mention the inferior Naked Gun movies too) means his deadpan delivery is immediately funny; unfortunately I forget he used to be a straight actor and when you see him in 60s and 70s shows like Columbo or Kojak, he uses exactly the same deadpan delivery and you can't help but laugh at all his lines and actions, even though it's supposedly serious drama. This "is this serious or is it supposed to be funny" feeling runs right through Alexander. I actually did laugh out loud at nearly all the scenes with 'snakes are just like people' Jolie and 'ah-ha jim lad' Kilmer, and Farrel showed his comic genius when he pulled his Ben Turpin wide-eyed manic stare when deciding whether to chase Darius or go back and save his baggage train. As historical epics go, it's as funny as Life of Brian. I was unsure whether to give the film a 1 as the worst film or a 10 as one of the funniest parodies I've seen in a while. Which ever it actually is, it's worth watching in slack-jawed awe.