Missed its Window of Opportunity (Slight spoilers)

Rating: Null/10 (18 April 2004)

"The Alamo" is a film that will garner appreciation (though, unfortunately for the folks at Disney, no money) with the passing of time. At soon as Disney announced that the original Christmas 2003 release was pushed back to April 2004 - to "give director John Lee Hancock additional time" - the "bad-movie" buzz began. Critics were ready to bludgeon the film when it arrived over Easter Weekend, and while many did less than sing its praises, none could really bring themselves to hammer it the way the negative buzz indicated they should.
That's because Hancock's new vision of "The Alamo" was not the all-brawn, no-brain, John Wayne-styled hero worship they had been ready to dismiss without thinking twice. Its principal goal is to dig up the men behind the myth, explore their motives and the heartbreaking reality they must have felt when it finally sunk in that their small militia gang of 200 would be left alone against a force of 4000 Mexicans. Sam Houston, Jim Bowie, William Travis, and (of course) Davy Crockett occupy an exalted place in American folklore as result of the siege, but Hancock is not particularly interested in that - he wants you to feel what it must have been like to be trapped inside the abandoned mission with no possibility of escape and little chance of survival.
In debunking the myth, Hancock delivered both a couple rousing successes and a couple of botched failures. As Crockett and Houston, Billy Bob Thornton and Dennis Quaid provide the film's best performances, consistent in their flawed and ultimately human character. This makes it not only compelling, but also true - after all, Crockett was not a god among men as Uncle Walt and Fess Parker want us to think, he was human, and saw Texas as a chance for political redemption rather than a place to flex his bear-killing muscle.

On the downside, several sequences (in the particular case of Jim Bowie's storyline) make me believe Hancock didn't put that extra time in the editing room to good use. The storyline involving Bowie & his slave, his deceased Mexican wife, as well as the backstory of Travis' (Patric Wilson) flawed character, are provided only in glimpses and ultimately go nowhere. One instance during the final battle intercuts Bowie, literally on his deathbed, preparing for a true Texas-warrior final stand that ultimately is a letdown.
There are also some marks of brilliance - Thornton's final scene as Crockett stands out, a wonderful moment of romantic fiction taking place the morning after the battle (though there is constant debate over the nature of Crockett's death - did he go out in a blaze of glory or cowardly begging for his life? - many agree he WAS killed during the fighting and never met Santa Ana face-to-face).
Ultimately, "The Alamo" comes close, so achingly close, to unquestionable greatness that you can't help but wonder why it missed the window of opportunity. Certainly the delay had something to do with it. Hancock and his team should be proud of what they have done, but I must remark that they could have done better. In spite of the dismal box office performance, I hope Disney gives the film a full second-life on DVD, where Hancock can reincorporate what I can guarantee is a plethora of deleted scenes to present his full vision of "The Alamo".
FINAL SCORE: 7.5 / 10