‘Alexander’ is deplorable effort

Evan Marmol

Alexander The Great, the man, was an intrepid warrior that conquered

the vast majority of civilization; “Alexander The Great,” the film,

has been routed, toppled and utterly humiliated by films of the likes

of “SpongeBob SquarePants.” The travesty does not lay in our

collective dismissal of this man’s phenomenal accomplishments; it is

more of a reflection of the poverty of spirit and intensity of this

failed flick.

Oliver Stone is most culpable by plying his trade as a perverse

auteur, preferring entertainment value over capturing the truth and

magnificence that can be accomplished in a pure biopic. This

perversity extends into a nonlinear, muddled, incestuous and vapid

plot. It infects the narrative with bland language and an abject lack

of intensity. Most unfortunately, it crushes Alexander’s historical

significance, and the stellar potential of Colin Farrell, Angelina

Jolie, Val Kilmer and Anthony Hopkins.

It is in Oliver Stone’s nature to direct revisionist, lackluster

films, but this is an unadulterated, flagrant failure. Farrell

portrays Alexander, a man that tore through 22,000 miles of territory

building the world’s largest empire. Rather than pay homage to this

legend the film makes an execrable attempt to humanize him, and in

doing so, reduces Alexander into a whimpering child, a dissolute

despot and a lascivious philanderer.

Farrell appears figuratively shackled to this weak approach and

appears extremely pained by it throughout the film. Jolie is as

ravishing as ever as Alexander’s mother Olympias; Jared Leto as

Hephaistion and Rosario Dawson as Alexander’s Bactrian wife, are both

less than remarkable. The one redeeming performance was the narration

of Hopkins as Alexander’s trusted general, Ptolemy.

This film is so utterly deplorable and sluggish that a scene that

is meant to inspire true pathos is responded to by audiences with

levity and childish giggling. “Alexander The Great” is the epitome of

a superb epic butchered by a vainglorious director. It is a

consummate failure and tormenting waste of precious time.

* EVAN MARMOL is Laguna Beach resident. He graduated from UC

Irvine with a degree in psychology and social behavior. He can be

reached at Evan_Marmol@hotmail.com.