White Elephant

Rating: 3/10 (28 May 2001)

In the 1960s, Steve Reeves would have killed John Drew Barrymore after 80 minutes (the necessary time to tell such an inane story), and "The End" ("Fine" is more appropriate) would have appeared on the screen, as Reeves kissed Mylène Demongeot, Chelo Alonso or Scilla Gabel in the hereafter. The production would have cost 1/200 of the "Gladiator" budget, and you would have left the cinema feeling as silly and empty, but not as cheated, as after seeing this "white elephant". Unfortunately, this never-ending melodrama has been hailed as a masterpiece by the lovers of over-amplified sound effects, boringly fake visuals and gratuitous violence; and as in a Roman circus, it has been crowned with awards that make it look worst than it is. They all have shown more inspiration than the filmmakers in tracing a parallel between the Roman empire and the present one. What a shame.