Gorgeous but empty canvas of primitive art...

Rating: 6/10 (9 May 2006)

It's incredible to think what a great movie this could have been if as much attention was paid to giving us a literate script as was paid to reconstructing history with villages, Indians, battles, and sets that look like the real thing. The photography is breath-taking throughout, the acting is sincere, but the pace of the film is beyond slow as it recounts a vision of what is said to have happened when the colonists came to form America's Jamestown side by side with some savages who owned the land.
The John Smith/Pocahontas theme is nicely handled although all of this kind of story was handled in much more robust fashion by Disney's crew a few years ago when they did their animated version of the tale. And it was a might more entertaining than the way it is recounted here.
There is a wistful quality to the whole story and gorgeous landscapes to gape at, authentic sunsets with boats in full sail, and some very convincing looking battle scenes with Indians in full mode as painted savages. Nothing has been spared to give the look of the film authenticity and detailed realism.
But as entertainment, it falls far short of the mark. A huge part of the problem is a dull script with Colin Farrell given no opportunity to develop his role as John Smith and Christian Slater reduced to a secondary supporting role as John Rolfe, as is Christopher Plummer.
James Horner's music sounds appropriate enough although it is strangely silent at times when some emotional depth could have been aided by his score.
Summing up: Deserves credit for being an ambitious project, but ends up being a gorgeous empty canvas of primitive art with limited appeal to students of American history.