Where did the time go?

Rating: 8/10 (16 May 2004)

This was an extraordinary movie but one's enjoyment of "Troy" will depend entirely on the attitude one has when going into the theater.
I knew the story from a very long time ago and while I remember the basic story I do not, I freely admit, remember the details. For me however, it did not matter how accurate the movie was because I went into Troy with the attitude that it would not be accurate at all. This IS Hollywood. Few movies of this type are gonna stick to the facts. There are many reasons to go see a movie. In the case of Troy, I went to be entertained. I wanted to be swept away into the exciting legend, into the adventure of it all. And I was. And that's why I would recommend Troy so strongly to people who want that particular movie experience. The movie was also well acted, exciting, touching, thought provoking and beautifully filmed.
Firstly-I will comment on Brad Pitt who has been getting a lot of flack for reasons that are beyond me. This was Pitt's problem in Legends of the fall too. He's simply to handsome for people at times to take seriously and that's doing both him and the moviegoer a disservice because he's truly excellent in this and his Archilles possesses intensity, fierceness-and humility. Pitt started off OK and got better, this wasn't an instant "wow" more of a slow burn. He managed to move me to tears in one or two scenes so I'd say he did his job. In fact, I will not fault the acting of anybody, all were good in their roles, but the two who it would be criminal NOT to receive Oscar nods are Peter O' toole and Eric Bana, both of whom were electrifying. This wasn't Pitt's fault, the other two just had more to work with. Diane Krueger was certainly beautiful enough to incite a war but her character was a bit cookie cutter, Helen's dialog WAS a bit weak, as was Orlando Bloom's, we never really know just WHY these two fall in love with each other, their interaction together was a bit weak, even their love scenes were a bit-well-DULL. I know Helen wasn't meant to be a main character but she could have been given a little bit stronger character development.I will say Eric Bana should become a household name after this performance, he was outstanding and O'Toole's scene with Pitt was as close to perfect as a movie scene can possibly be. Visually, the movie is amazing(the scenery etc) and the music was great too. I really do think this movie isn't just good but excellent.
In spite of all the positives, Troy's not perfect. There are a few other negatives I'll admit. The battle scenes were a bit gory but that is to be expected. What bothered me was the graininess of some of the battle scenes. Was it me or were there a lot of spots that were just blurry? All my friends noticed that too, the cameras seemed out of focus or something, that detracted a bit and is one of my only criticisms along with what I call "The Blond factor".
What I mean by that is this: where did Helen of Troy have blonde hair? Wasn't she a brunette?(I'll admit I could be wrong on that though.) In fact, everyone in the movie was so BUFF, it was a bit hard to take seriously at times. I don't think there's a female on this planet who could say that Brad Pitt did not look extremely handsome in this film, even if one isn't personally attracted to him, one would probably admit this guy looked extremely sexy. But he probably would have been taken more seriously if he had dyed his hair black and not been so BUFFED-there were so many shots of Pitt's muscles that after awhile, no matter how visually pleasing that may be, one has to think: yeah, this is how their planning to get people into the movie.
I don't mean to be overly critical at all because this was a truly extraordinary film but it did, at times, look like a party for a model agency with all those perfect people. EVEN THE BABY had those big blue eyes and sunny smile.... And: WARNING: END SPOILER: When Brad Pitt dies he sure manages to look absolutely stunning-I mean unlike everybody else, there's little blood or gore or ANYTHING-it's a bit much. However, those are minor quibbles because the movie's positives easily outweigh any negatives there may be.
I still think this is an easy 8.5 of 10 maybe even a 9-it's got a lot to like-action, adventure, intense Oscar worthy performances, humility, fun and very importantly, moves at an electrically fast pace which is why I chose to head this review: where did the time go. This is a three hour movie and by the time it ended I was puzzled because it felt like maybe an hour had gone by. That is the mark of good movie, when you not only don't notice the time going by but actually think it was way to short. Troy turned out better then I thought, they could have really botched this but as it was, it was about 2 points higher then I thought it would be(I thought maybe a 6.5 or 7). I think if someone comes into this with no other expectations then to be swept away for three hours they will like this. 8.5 or 9 out of 10 and I hope to see a few Oscar noms.