Brad Pitt can't act!

Rating: Null/10 (2 January 2005)

Let's face it. There are actors who are movie stars and there are movie stars who can act. Forget Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall - those are legends and shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath but Brad Pitt?! He's a movie star through and through and reckon he's not a bad actor but he pales in comparison to the others in this movie - Sean Bean, Orlando Bloom and most of all Eric Bana. All it took was (spoiler!) for that one scene with Peter O'Toole to display his lack of acting credibility. He didn't achieve international acclaim playing a substantial role - all he did was show off his abs in 'Thelma & Louise' and he was there! Yeah, fine actor alright. All he needed was to do sit ups every night.
The one who truly excelled in this movie was Eric Bana who showed ferocity and tenacity in his role as the older more responsible brother out to save his nation and younger foolish brother. I had just watched Orlando Bloom in his comic turn in 'Pirates of the Carribbean' so I was pretty surprised he could pull it off in 'Troy', which backs up my claim that he's an actor cum movie star. I'm just sorry Brad Pitt got all the attention and no credit was given to Eric Bana who gave the movie some sort of dignity amidst all the glamour of the blonde movie star.
All kudos to Wolfgang Petersen but perhaps his hands were tied in the casting process. I mean the days of making epic movies like 'Cleopatra' and 'Spartacus' are over for the very reason that those were days when the big movie stars, even Elizabeth Taylor, could command an audience awed by her sheer beauty and acting abilities. Kirk Douglas didn't just flash his dimpled chin to make 'Spartacus' into the masterpiece it was - he had to act and he could. Unfortunately, in the world of commercialism and utter nonsensical movies, people like Brad Pitt can star in a ridiculously expensive movie like Troy and get away with it. With the recent failure of 'Alexander' starring another similar-abled movie star, I hope the studios will learn that a pretty face is not enough to make a movie into the success that it could be. You need real actors who can really act and hold their own against greats like Peter O'Toole and not be totally overshadowed and killed just by sharing one tiny scene with him.