Stone tried too much

Rating: 8/10 (13 February 2007)

How do you make a film about one of the greatest generals of all time leading a dazzling military campaign that led to the conquest of the known world? If you're Oliver Stone you don't. Instead you treat your viewers to an intimate psychological profile of the man: how he thought, what moved him, what were his dreams and aspirations. Sound boring? That's because it is. But that doesn't mean that it's not interesting. If anything, Oliver Stone proved that he has the balls -so to speak- to push the envelope, scoffing at -mostly American- viewers' latent homophobia. Well, historical evidence seems to point that he was in fact bisexual. Why is that a big deal? Mainly because Stone allowed it to become a big deal. For crying out loud Oliver, he wasn't just a bisexual -or "pansexual"- King who loved another man. He conquered the freaking world and all you offer us is two battles. Gloriously directed as they were, they are not enough to give us a sense that Alexander was in fact "Great". Stone let Alexander the person dominate the film, when he should have balanced him out with Alexander the soldier. In anticipation for the Final Cut DVD, I'm giving this a 7. Then I'll adjust my vote accordingly.