Poor Casting, Poor script Poor direction.

Rating: 1/10 (16 January 2005)

I had so much anticipation before seeing this film. But in the end it seemed to be a poor cross between the history channel and a gay sex in the city.
I won't summarise the plot as most know it already.
The only person to come out intact was Val Kilmer. His almost perfect portrayal of an edgy, alcoholic, despot was breath-taking. Colin Farrell by contrast seemed not to be able to cope. Alexander was a notorious alcoholic, yet Farrell's character is remarkably sober throughout. The one time he seemed a little drunk was in killing Cleitus, in the party scene in India. Here he kills a man who has fought with him in all his campaigns, yet it the film he does it fully cognisant, fully sober and completely unbelievably.
The so called homo-erotic scenes between Farrell's Alexander and Jared Leto's Hephaistion were so laughable they merit no comment. Most people seemed not be offended by their inclusion but rather at how badly these scenes were performed. The only thing I would ask the director is as Firth seemed so uncomfortable with the gay scenes why make these scenes so integral to the film? I know a man like Alexander is too big to cover in a film. But this was pathetic. Alexander the man who conquered what was then the greatest empire the world had ever seen. The man who founded countless cities, never defeated in battle, and persuaded men form the "Hicksville" end of Greece to fight to the end of the known world. A man who convinced older men and wiser men that impossible dreams could not only be dreamt but made real. This man in this film is reduced to an a character out of the OC, forever pondering the psycho dynamics of the situation in between getting his leg over with the next dark eyed, dark haired man.
The script seemed to have been written by people that had drunk all the wine meant for Alexander. Come on guys you are better than this! The direction had no flow, no continuity, no consistency and in fact no quality.
The only scenes that were reasonable were the expansive shots of the Mountains. But this director is no David Lean. No John Ford. And even these scenes seem to feel like some kind of travel show than an historic epic.
When I watched this film, for the first time in a long time people started walking out of the cinema. I don't blame them.
In short this film is complete flawed. But the greatest crime is that is could have been great but should have good. Unfortunately where this film needed a director like David Lean or Stanley Kubrick; we instead got someone that should limit his endeavours to the history channel.
Anyone who thinks this film was good needs to develop an opinion. Simply opposing the opinion of the Conservative right in the US does not make for a realistic appraisal.