The film sheds some light on Alexander's relationship with his mother,
Olympia (Angelina Jolie), his father Philip (Val Kilmer), his trusted
general Ptolemy (Anthony Hopkins), his life long friend and battle commander
Hephaistion (Jared Leto), and his ambitious, beautiful wife Roxane (Rosario
Dawson).
The movie follows Alexander from his childhood through his teens and
into the core of his life as a relentless conqueror and a visionary
who never lost a battle. Movie opens in 323 B.C. with Alexander lying
on his death bed, then jumps 40 years back as his empire is being carved
up, a story narrated by trusted general Ptolemy. Ptolemy guided Alexander
through his younger years. A series of assassinations made Alexander,
the King at the age of 19. From there on he led his army victoriously
through the Persian empire, west to Egypt and finally made his way to
India.
History tells us that Alexander had three wives, many mistresses and
he was a bisexual who had a sexual relationship with his childhood friend
Hephaistion. But in the movie, Oliver Stone harness the theme of homosexuality
which might fit well into today's climate. The veteran storyteller and
three Oscar winner, Oliver Stone tries to correlate the epic story of
Alexander with the 'New Era' we live in. He takes a liberal view of
history and portrays the Great conqueror as a homosexual. The homoerotic
content has received more publicity than any other aspect of the movie.
Even though there are a few impressively staged scenes most of the plots
are disconnected. Not enough time was spent on the realistic side of
the great conqueror. It is over hyped about many things including the
stunning nudity of Rosario Dawson.
With a strongly defined story Stone could have shown to the audience
the real greatness of Alexander the Great. This could be the worst film
ever made by this immensely talented filmmaker. Farrell as Alexander,
has no dynamism or charisma. With a better story he could have been
successful. Angelina Jolie as Alexander's mother does not fit into the
role mainly because she looks about the same age as Farrell. Van Kilmer
fares better as Alexander's father and Jared Leto makes a decent performance
as Alexander's close friend and life long lover. Anthony Hopkins does
justice to his role. Even though the movie is packed with historical
details, it lacks the basic coherence and romantic sensitivity of other
epic films like Troy. It could be compared to a bad history class with
a bad teacher telling the story.
We rate this $ 150 million historical epic as Average.
