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Wednesday, December 01, 2004


Not the mess I expected

When I heard how bad Alexander was, I tried to avoid reading too much, to go in without a lot of preconceptions, even if vastly lowered expectations.

In retrospect, I clearly assumed that the problem would be Oliver Stone way over the top. Quite the opposite. I described Gangs of New York as a big mess, because Scorcese threw way too much in there. It never decided what it wanted to be.

This never decided either, but instead of way too much, it was way too little. Just as unfocused, but at least an overstuffed mess like Gangs had lots to get involved in. This had nothing.

Three hours of utter boredom. No real story. No clear themes. Nothing developed. A whole lot of endless chatter. And much of it well delivered, but none of it remotely interesting or provocative.

God, an Oliver Stone movie that fails to provoke. Can you imagine?

It was way too hammy in way too many ways--the music, the speechifying, the effects--but its real downfall was the writing. Completely unfocused and meandering. No idea at all what it's about.

What a shame. So much material here, and they never figured out what to make of it.
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