very good, not great

Rating: 7/10 (1 January 2006)

Lawrence of Arabia was a bit spotty, IMO. There obviously were brilliant and gorgeous elements but there were those that prohibited me from being completely won over as well. Some of the latter were idiosyncrasies of many movies from that era, therefore, I tried to keep those in perspective.
After the music, which was at odds with the movie and which I tolerated only so long before skipping, the early scenes were witty, absorbing and charming and everything I love about older films (especially the magnificently droll, British ones) as were many subsequent scenes. But as I grew knee deep in suspension of disbelief I found myself questioning the director. Not necessarily the people Lawrence happens upon in the desert but the way he happens upon them, the anachronistic and totally miscast Anthony Quinn (who can be such a hack and was in this movie - IMO), etc... all contributed to me finding the movie a bit too inconsistent to be considered great. It lacked a degree of internal logic. I also must admit to a prejudice against the residual self-conscious mannerism from stage and silent film that some early performers exhibited in dramatic roles. O'Toole's operatic manner toward the end made me ever conscious that he was acting and not going mad. It's like watching Parsifal. Omar Sharif, on the other hand, was BRILLIANT. His entire performance was flawless.
I do believe the way Lawrence was portrayed with the two boys was a hint that he was suspected of being gay. I kept thinking of Batman and Robin and all the adolescent sidekicks superheroes have. I did not go into this movie with any preconceptions and don't think the thoughts these scenes evoked was arbitrary.
Oh, and the voice Alec Guinness used for the prince was goofy, almost like a Peter Sellers spoof.
All in all it was a very good movie but not a great one.