Not Best Picture Material - but Entertaining

Rating: 7/10 (26 March 2001)

The biggest mystery about this film is that Russell Crow got the Best Actor award. His performance was the least impressive of all the Best Actor nominees. Four extremely talented actors with outstanding performances lost to a TV movie of the week performance. How does that happen? He wasn't even cast well. How can you make a Gladiator movie without the beefcake! Russell Crow never exposes "the gladiator's" outrageous upper body. He's always covered up. Perhaps we should thank him for that. Don't get me wrong...it's an entertaining view...just got way too much credit.