Epic Proportions without an Epic Script

Rating: 7/10 (2 January 2004)

Many points given to some of the cast - Jude Law, Renée Zellweger and Natalie Portman. Ms. Kidman may have done better with an Aussie yarn however, especially as she couldn't produce a North Carolina accent to save her life.
The script is long and plodding. I haven't read the novel but I suspect it reads better than this screenplay films.
The director is aptly named, Minge-hella -- lack of attention to detail, boring and purely fearsome villains of no means with which to identify; and war scenes that are ambivalent between realistic and stylistic.
I do have to compliment the use of a proper ending.
This film is better than average.