The acting saved the film...

Rating: 8/10 (17 December 2006)

come one guys, you have to suspend your disbelief. It's an epic and even more so it's mythology, it is virtually impossible to make a flawless film about something whose history has so many legendary versions. I didn't dive into watching Troy expecting to learn the true history about the Trojan war, heck! I heard Brad Pitt was naked in it and so I rented it (vain as that may sound LOL! it's the doggone truth).
Moving along, I give the director (and perhaps the writer) major credit for keeping it all straight forward (unlike what what's his face did with Alexander --which by the way is a whole other review). Here's the story without any brain science involved (even a cave man could get it right away, LOL! Okay way too many GEICO commercials HAHA!). Paris (a measly looking and way too pretty Orlando Bloom) falls in love with Helen of Sparta (played by Diane Krueger) too bad she is already married. Okay, let me wander off for a second. First things first, off all the men in the film, why does this woman choose the wimpiest looking one to have an affair with??? Therein lays my question. Second of all, while I'm not even going to front, Diane Krueger is pretty but of all the women of the world, how did they zero in on her to play Helen of Troy, a woman whose beauty legend tells us is second only to that of Aphrodite? I just couldn't get over that, much as I tried to suspend my disbelief. I mean, okay if worst came to the worst, they could have made the ethereal Rose Byrne play dual roles (Helen & Breseis). But you know, I'm just saying.
Now back to the plot, one night during a liaison, Paris decides it would be a good idea to save Helen from her woeful marriage by bringing her back to Troy with him. On the boat, he confesses to his brother Hector (played by Eric Bana who turns in one of the finest performances in the film) that he has brought along Helen and immediately, through Hector's dismay and anger we see a foreshadowing of things to come. Since Troy and Sparta have endured a hot and cold relationship for years, it is small wonder that Helen's alleged abduction becomes more of a political issue than a personal one. Nevertheless, Helen is welcomed with open arms upon her arrival in Troy and through this ceremony we get to meet new characters including Breseis(Rose Byrne) the cousin of Paris & Hector, and Andromache(Saffron Burrows) the wife of Hector.
Meanwhile back in Sparta, the king and his brother have begun to assemble the largest team of soldiers to embark on the journey to not only recover Helen but to attack Troy for the insult. They have one problem though, convincing mighty warrior Achilles(Brad Pitt in an Oscarworthy performance) to come along with them. Achilles, while a legendary warrior refuses to bow to the king nor subscribe to his unscrupulous ways but is somehow convinced to come along for the war because he knows that it will be a legendary one. Achilles arrives in Troy first and wreaks his havoc before the Spartan army and in doing so, his men are able to capture a woman priestess named Breseis with whom Achilles falls in love with and ultimately loses his life for.
Look for great performances by Eric Bana, Brad Pitt and Rose Byrne. I'm sorry guys, I love Orly but I just couldn't suspend my disbelief long enough to believe anything he did in this film. Oh! and the nude scenes with Brad were so tastefully done that it was almost a let down that they didn't show us more. It's either that or I got the Walmart version(LOL!). Wolfgang Petersen handled the directing well, kudos to him and the actors did their parts, props to them. If only that script hadn't been a little too shaky for comfort. All in all, it was watchable.