Alexander [Director’s Cut] (2005)

RATING:	40%
FORMAT:	DVD

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A rather elliptically-convoluted tale of a great military leader that fails to illuminate because it spends too much time making parallels with the present military adventurism of the United States to tell us much about the ancient world as well.

Colin FARRELL is quite wrong for the part despite his great efforts to make this role work for him. He is simply not a king actor as, say, Orson Welles was and cannot give his part the necessary gravitas required for the role of a man with a self-appointed mission to unite the world.

(Image: http://outnow.ch/)

The film plays out with undoubted conviction and sincerity on the director, Oliver STONE’s part, but never really finds much to say about its eponymous hero. This movie is little more than a set of impressive tableaux vivants rather than a look at a legendary figure - expressed through action and combat.

The only part that makes any dramatic sense is that of Alexander’s mother, Olympias, intensely played by Angelina JOLIE. She is the real power behind the throne for whom ensuring her son does well is a matter of personal survival. If he were replaced as King of Macedonia, she too would lose her life. This film allows her inherent tigress qualities to emerge to excellent dramatic effect: What a pity the rest of the film did not raise its game to at least meet her in the dramaturgical middle.

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