Lumbering yawner

Rating: 3/10 (8 October 2004)

Good grief, this is a dull film.
Director John Lee Hancock, a Texan native, obviously wanted to create the most authentic film of "The Alamo," but in his attempt to be so reverential, he forgot that he had a story to tell. Along with two other screenwriters - Leslie Bohem and Oscar-winner Stephen Gaghan - Hancock created a film where none of the characters is all that interesting.
Part of the problem is that none of the main characters is fleshed out. Be it Davy Crockett (Billy Bob Thornton), James Bowie (Jason Patric), Sam Houston (Dennis Quaid) or William Travis (Patrick Wilson), every major character is thoroughly one-dimensional.
Thornton's the only one who gets a role with some bite. But Crockett, too, is underwritten, and at the end of 137 minutes, we still know very little about the man. As for the others: Houston's essentially a cameo starring a well-known actor and Bowie seems to be in the film only because the real character happened to be at the Alamo for the 1836 standoff.
Hancock's film runs about 25 minutes too long. There are too many peripheral moments that don't add up to anything much, including Bowie's dreary flashbacks and delusions. There's even a flashback within a flashback. Hancock seems so intent on getting the period details right, that he completely ignores that a film should first tell a good, compelling story. Yes, the story of the Alamo is such a tale, but this film slights all the major players by making them poorly written characters.
The only exciting aspect of the entire film is the novel use of the Spydercam. This camera, hung on high wires and propelled by computer, swoops, swooshes and gives us aerial shots in lieu of cranes or choppers. It's used very effectively, especially in the battle scenes.
This is a film you should watch on DVD or video with your finger on the fast-forward button so that you can zip past all the tedious stuff - and, believe me, there's plenty of it - and get to the well-done battle scenes. But the film lacks grit and, honestly, I couldn't have cared less about any of the people in "The Alamo."
I have no doubt as to Hancock's earnest desire to make a factually correct film version of the events at the Alamo. But sincerity does not mean the film automatically will be good. This one's a lumbering, ponderous attempt to tell an exciting true story. It's no wonder this film was plagued with production problems and that Disney delayed its release by several months.