Masculine Spectacle

Rating: 8/10 (8 July 2003)

It is a good movie, to be sure. One of the best, in fact. But it's good in the way that "Gone with the Wind" is good--it's largely spectacle, only this movie was made for men. It makes sense that the two films sit at numbers four and five on the AFI top 100. They make a good pair. Neither quite stand the test of time. In Lawrence's case, Englishmen playing Arabs and Arabs whooping and hollering like "Injuns" in an old Hollywood Western seem, thankfully, to belong to a time of movie-making quite past. Another difficulty of the film is that it portrays quite a confusing character, as T.E. Lawrence the man is nearly beyond comprehension and largely an enigma. Peter O'Toole does an admirable job, but in the end, his character still has to remain an enigma--for an actor, that must be difficult. Omar Shariff, on the other hand (perhaps the only Middle Eastern actor to actually play such in the film) comes full circle, and is one of the more unforgettable characters, and performances, from the film.
A good and admirable film in many respects, but it is good to see it for what it is: it's not the greatest movie ever, it's not flawless. It's a good example of movie-making spectacle.