I really enjoyed watching Alexander!

Rating: 10/10 (18 April 2007)

I have not seen the film since it opened in 2004. The main reason was the very bad reviews I read mainly from movie-goers. After reading reviews from critics it cemented my opinion that I should wait for the DVD. But when the DVD came out, even then I failed to watch the film. The wind was taken out of my sails and I simply forgot about Alexander. Then I met Oliver Stone at a film festival and heard him speak passionately about Alxander. He told the audience that the Director's Cut was very good and everyone should watch it. And so finally I did. However, as the film started I had a deep sense of mistrust and prejudice (I still thought that 90% of movie-goers and critics can't possibly be wrong). Then came the surprise. I was really pleasantly surprised to have enjoyed watching the film. Although I admit that it dragged at times and the relationship between Alexander and his parents on the one hand and his bisexual lover on the other was a little overbearing, I still thought that triumvirate was necessary to make Alexander want to go forward and prove both his mom and dad wrong. That was the emotional backbone of the story. If Stone only focused on the military conquests he would have made a different film. This one has emotional depth and grit. On the other hand, I thought Colin Farrell was not up to the part. He played it way too laid back and conciliatory. He was too soft and at times feminine. But then he was wise and knew how to treat his conquered enemies. It was a tough part to play and he did a decent job (If I were Stone, I would have cast Jason Patric, who in my mind is one of the most under-appreciated actors in Hollywood). All and all, this was a very difficult subject matter and I truly think Oliver Stone did a great job at giving us his version of Alexander's life. As to the criticism regarding various accents, makeup, etc, I think they are baseless and petty. I thought the accents worked pretty well since the film was shot in English. I realized that a lot of the people didn't like the film watched it to find fault or had certain expectations that were not met. After all, Alexander the Great is widely known throughout history and there is so much written about him that what we know about him could be mostly myth. We envision him as a superb military commander with super human traits when in fact he was a human being who had many flaws. Kudos to Oliver Stone for sticking to his guns and making a film that, though not appreciated in its time, will certainly make future more sophisticated and smarter audiences (not the ones who rush to watch Blades of Glory and Spiderman 1,2,3) much happier and more appreciative.