Entertaining epic

Rating: 8/10 (8 May 2000)

I can't say I'm a real big fan of what is known as the "sword and sandal" genre. Admittedly, I haven't seen too many of these medieval epics, but I can only think of two I liked(not counting Monty Python's LIFE OF BRIAN, which spoofed the genre); BEN-HUR and SPARTACUS. The former, despite an annoying lead performance by Charlton Heston, had taste and craftsmanship, the latter, despite a somewhat one-note performance by Kirk Douglas, had irony and intelligence. The others all seemed melodramatic. But Ridley Scott's new film shows there's life in this genre yet.
Admittedly, the film does suffer in comparison in one respect; Scott seems less comfortable with the talking scenes and the backroom politics, as it were, than, say, Stanley Kubrick was in SPARTACUS. All the scenes with Charles Laughton, Laurence Olivier, and Peter Ustinov were, in that film, equally as compelling as the battle scenes. Whereas in Scott's film, while he's cast some good actors like Joaquim Phoenix, Connie Nielson, and Derek Jacobi, and they respond with good performances(in particular, Phoenix, an underrated actor, and not the obvious choice as the bad guy), you can sense his need to get back to the action.
Fortunately, the action is all well done; while it's clear Scott is trying to have it both ways(make entertaining spectacle which comments on the need for entertaining spectacle), he stages it so well we don't tend to worry about that. Also, he's helped mightily by the casting of Russell Crowe in the lead role. Crowe couldn't play a false note if he tried, and he brings a lot to a pretty standard action hero here. As with THE INSIDER, he's playing another person who takes a stand he didn't think he had to, and he leads by example, rather than bluster. Overall, while I'm not a big fan of the genre, this is a fine example of it.