Mel shoulda directed it...

Rating: 1/10 (1 July 2000)

It's been a while since I left a movie theater this mad. I actually argued with my friends all the way home. This movie had some good scenes, but the director just needs to hook up with Jerry Bruckheimer and leave historical epics to someone more gifted. Filmmaking lesson #1- you should never talk down to your audience...I thought this movie was very condecending. If you cannot make a film that can sustain an audience's interest for more than an hour without having incredibly sadistic scenes with the cartoonish villan hurting defenseless people to outage your audience with righteous indignation, you are in the wrong business. This is the kind of film that causes stupid people to get the wrong idea. I sense alot of bad sentiment for the British if this becomes a hit (unfortunately, it probably will), and I do not blame them if they are pissed off about the main villan's actions. From what I have read, these actions have no vaild place in history. Cornwalis himself did not come off so bad. They should have left the film as a battle of wits between Mel and Cornwalis, as in the hysterical "negotiation" scene. Poor Mel seems to have sold his soul to these hacks for his 25 mil paycheck. I actually thought he was going to impail his nemeis with the American flag at the climax. I would have walked right out at that point. Was he not just making fun of this kind of gory "patroitic" swill on a brilliant episode of "The Simpsons" not too long ago?