BETTER THAN REVIEWS LEAD YOU TO BELIEVE...BUT NOT GREAT

Rating: 7/10 (16 May 2004)

Overall, a good movie that didn't live up to my expectations but far surpassed the many horrid reviews being written about it.
ACTING: First off, all the actors in the lead roles should be commended for the depth they brought each and every one of their characters, the standouts being Billy Bob Thornton and Jason Patric. Patrick Wilson was very good but I was left wanting more from his character. I love Dennis Quaid and he fits the part of Sam Houston physically to a "T". However, his performance seemed a little stiff and I felt that that as an actor Quaid was just trying to steal every scene he was in. And that just pulled me out of the movie. The real surprise to me here is Patric. While I've seen his work in other films, his portrayal of Bowie is so real because he is so conflicted and he realizes that he is just not a good man. Thornton is good in a similar fashion but I wasn't surprised by his performance. Thornton is one of those actors who gives you your money's worth no matter what the subject matter. So the fact that he would be stellar in this role is just a given. Whether or not Santa Anna's character is as maniacal as portrayed in this film, Emilio Echevarria never goes over the top except for one scene in which I doubt any commanding officer would ever, EVER take such a stupid risk. Not to mention he looks the part as if he was torn from a historical painting. Whether or not I agree with the representations of these historical figures is irrelevant. Unless you actually met these men and knew them as men you would be hard pressed to judge the filmmakers on the disposition of these historical figures.
DIRECTING: When "The Alamo" is good, it shines. When it gets overly sentimental, it drags big time. There are some nice directing flourishes by John Lee Hancock here, especially when he uses sweeping aerial camera moves over the mission or on the battlefield. There's one shot in particular that seems like it's from some generic action movie, but it makes perfect sense once the entire scene plays out. When Hancock tries to get overly sentimental with the residents of San Antonio de Bexar I silently groaned. When will directors understand that to feel someone's plight, fear, or torture that we do not need to see their face? Especially when it's the face of an extra! One last thing about shot selection is a scene with Bowie that seemed like it was completely from another movie altogether! It's a camera / visual effect trick that doesn't belong in a historical epic whatsoever. It horrified me. It's completely out of place both story-wise and genre.
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Michael Corenblith is fast becoming the man to reproduce historical objects and/or structures on film. He recreated NASA circa-1970 in "Apollo 13" and now he's reproduced San Antonio de Bexar so respectfully that you would think he had blueprints and photographs to go from when building it. Living north of San Antonio and just 10 miles or so east from where they built the replica of the Alamo, the sets gave me a hyper-real sense of delusion that I was actually watching a documentary about the battle. Check out the bullet holes in the structures of San Antonio de Bexar! Awesome!
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Gorgeous photography by John O'Connor and Dean Semler. It's gratifying to see a night scene that truly feels like it is only being lit by candles. I had some problems with the whole blue light (or moon light if that is what the filmmakers were trying to achieve) thing for scenes involving masses of Mexican soldiers. I think it would have been scarier to just hear the troops advancing instead of the obvious. The use of shadows is very well done in some scenes but borders on the melodramatic quite a few times.
MUSIC: What a missed opportunity Carter Burwell let pass him by. The opening music (which is a solo act for the most part) is so more haunting and emotional than the full orchestra crap that rises up eventually. Some of this music is what kills some of the better dramatic moments in the film, especially the hypersentimental scenes. Despite the utter nonsense of the scenes (one in particular which is just ludicrous), Davy Crockett's violin playing is beautiful but never used quite right. The one scene in which he plays along (you'll get it when you see it) is so horrid and the next scene so utterly ludicrous that I wanted to scream at Hancock for the sheer stupidity of keeping the scenes in the movie.
OVERALL: *** out of ****