A Missed Opportunity - It Could Have Been SO Good!

Rating: Null/10 (29 May 2004)

I am sure my comments merely echo many of those that have gone before me - could have been so much better. In general a fairly workmanlike ensemble cast of jobbing actors. Many of the Brits have cut their eye teeth on much more complex Shakespearean pieces and given the right script could have carried the day. However, Brad Pitt was badly miscast... he just didn't literally have the balls for such an heroic piece. Is there anybody out there who warmed to Achilles? or even began to understand what motivated the man? Petulance, arrogance, spite envy and the list goes on.
We can draw a straight line from Braveheart through Gladiator, LOTR's to Troy and I have to say that none have yet drilled down into the kind of core that Mel Gibson (love him or hate him) did in that movie.
Disappointed in Wolfgang Petersen the director, who has done some sterling work in the past, particularly Das Boot, where he managed to focus in superbly into the psychological aspects of men at war. In Troy he chose to use a kind of shorthand that rendered the main characters as mere cartoons.
Disagree with other comments about Peter O'Toole he gave the movie it's one piece of gravitas and though not by any standards his best, it was a sound piece of acting and a sheet anchor to some of the other lightweights around him.
I have to confess that I was beginning to check my watch about 65 minutes into the movie - what a shame, how can such an epic tale be retold on such a mundane level.
Wait for it to appear on DVD.