Not what it could've been

Rating: Null/10 (14 June 2004)

"The Alamo" is a good, not great, movie. It didn't have quite the emotional impact on me that I hoped it would. My better half, Stephanie, is from Texas, and she felt the same way. There just seems to be something about the pacing that doesn't flow as smoothly as I would've liked. I never truly got the feeling that the Alamo defenders had been inside the walls for 13 days, and the movie could've done a better job of showing the reasons why these men were willing to die behind the walls of an old, abandoned church.
Not surprisingly, there are some historical inaccuracies. For one, I really doubt Davy Crockett played the fiddle along with the Mexican Army's band while standing atop the Alamo. It's a funny scene though. Also, historical accounts state that Crockett died while fighting. "The Alamo" portrays him as being captured and then killed. Don't worry, the movie doesn't get so politically correct as to have him beg for his life or anything. I was scared of that, but thankfully, he died bravely.
The biggest omission in the movie is William Barrett Travis drawing a line in the sand with his sword and asking those who are willing to die to cross over the line. All but one man crossed the line. A sick Jim Bowie, legend says, even had his cot carried across the line. The only man not to cross the line was Louis Rose, a French man who'd served in Napoleon's army. Wow, a French man was the one man not willing to fight? Surprise, surprise! Anyway, Rose escaped with his life and told the story.
In the movie, Travis does say that anybody who doesn't want to fight can leave, but the scene is not as powerful as it could've been had they gone with the "line in the sand" story. Why was this left out? I don't know, but it is most unfortunate.
Overall, I enjoyed "The Alamo," especially when the fighting started. I'm just disappointed that it didn't leave me feeling as charged up and patriotic as something like Mel Gibson's "The Patriot." If you have no interest or knowledge in the history of the Alamo, then I fear that this movie will not give you a satisfactory reason as to why so many men were willing to die, and you might find yourself asking why *you* should be willing to invest your interest in the movie.