Uneven and Pretentious

Rating: 3/10 (26 December 2013)

Ouch. This was the first DVD I ever purchased, and the first I gave to the local thrift store.
First of all, I was subjected to Richard Harris all too much at the beginning, and what was that all about? How did that contribute to the film? Film is all about compression of characters and more-or-less smooth progression through the story. I'd have left the Richard Harris part on the cutting room floor. To present "the wrong person is on the throne" can be done very effectively in many other (shorter) ways.
Second of all, Joaquin Phoenix's character was wholly one-dimensional, the result of which was a uniformly downward-feeling mood. Think of Stephen Boyd in Wyler's Ben Hur. Of course, Gladiator was a kind of remake of that one, which was a remake of a really good one. I now better appreciate Francis X Bushman.
And what was the dog all about? I get all that Roman Valhalla stuff, but the execution was pretty corny, all dreamy and, can I say it, cheap. And let me digress - Richard Harris's part in Caviezel's Count of Monte Cristo might better have been left 60% on the cutting room floor. It gave the same problem, taking time and focus from the meat of the story.
Gladiator was a one-and-done for me.