Hey folks, Harry here... It's sad... this review is exactly what I thought of the script. A film that wants to be a mini-series, but instead became a movie.... and as a result flounders about on screen. Instead of focusing on the men in the walls of the Alamo and the battles within them and the battle they faced, they are attempted to make a film that didn't offend anyone and that played all sides... Exactly like PEARL HARBOR, but apparently - to results that are perhaps a bit harsher. This review isn't pretty, and let's hope that with editing and score, the film finds a soul and a pace... But this review is really brutal...
Hey guys,
I'm a long-time reader, first-time poster. I love the site and your book! Anyways, I just got back from a test screening for Touchstone's 'The Alamo' in Orange, California. The guy who introduced the film said that we were the first audience in the world to see the film. He also said that it wasn't a finished (score not in place, color matching incomplete) print. I'll try to keep this as spoiler-free as possible. Here begins my review.
I really wanted to like this film. I really did. When I found out that Ron Howard wanted to make an Alamo film with Russell Crowe, I was admittedly excited. When that fell through, I kind of forgot about the project. Then the trailer came out and... I was underwhlemed. It really was not very impressive. Many of the shots seemed either lazy or overly artfull. Oh well, I kept my mind open, and I was disappointed.
The film opens with a series of long, sweeping shots featuring dead bodies (some quite gory for a PG-13 film). It then cuts to an hour's (give or take) worth of pointless fluff. Literally, it serves no purpose to the film. This section of the film should be cut down by a half hour or more. It's just pointless story arcs and melodramatic cut-aways (which aptly describes most of the film). Two of my friends literally fell asleep during this section of the film. It was really sad. It's not until the first cannon fires that the film gets interesting (once again, about an hour into the film).
Now, the battle sequences are generally well done with some plain poor choices. Good fight choreography and some amazing sound design help this scene work. These cannons fire with more auditory force than you would ever imagine. It literally floors you into your seat. This is true of many of the sound effects in the film. The muskets, horses, and cannons are all properly loud and wonderfully edited. The sound is visceral and cutting, some of the best work I've heard all year. I can't really comment on the score, as it was not yet in place (they used some 'Road to Perdition' in there, which completely didn't fit). The fights are broken up by some overly "arty" shots. The cinematography throughout the movie is boring, to say the least. It seems like the cinematographer noticed this and threw in some shots that look nice but completely out of place (the sillouettes? come on!). The film also c! uts away to completely unrelated shots, such as a random woman clutching her child and crying. These cutaways didn't aid the sequence in any way and were really just annoying. Finally, there's this parrelel story about a reluctant, young Mexican soldier that's just distracting and overly dramatic. There's even a scene where this soldier meets a young American soldier and I just wanted to puke. It steals from 'All Quiet On the Western Front' so much that it was laughable.
How about the performances? Jason Patric (as James Bowie) and Patrick Wilson (as Colonel Travis) are servicable. They do their roles but really don't bring any punch or effort at all. Dennis Quaid (as Sam Houston) is really just pathetic. It sucks, because he's a fantastic actor. He just phones in his character here, and it's a boring phone call. I never felt that any army would follow this man. I really just wanted him to get off the screen. An actor who impressed me was Jordi Molla, a relative unknown. I think he displays an impressive screen presence and I was always glad to see him on screen. However, the film's saving grace in Billy Bob Thornton as Davy Crockett. He is the only actor in the film who brings any substance to his role. He portrays an aging Crockett who is shadowed by his own legend. He's truly kind of a simple, cowardly man who is forced to live up to people's perception of him. He accepts his heroic position, but acknowledges that it is not really him. He understands that men need him to be DAVY CROCKETT, not just plain, old David Crockett. Thornton displays this with charm and subtlety. He is also the film's sole comedic relief, which is appreciated. He is sorely missed when he is not on screen. I will finally say that I loved the final battle sequence. It was quick and gruesome. I was impressed by this sequence, one of the only ones that did impress me in the entire thing.
I have more to say about this but can't, for the sake of spoilers. Some of them involve the deaths of certain characters, so I must digress. I was extremely disappointed with this film. Without the wonderful sound design or the fabulous Billy Bob Thornton, this film would be a complete throwaway. It's a badly directed, shot, and edited mess. My only hope is that this is an extremely rough cut, and a better, shorter version will magically appear, but, somehow I doubt it. It feels like a 2 hour movie crammed into three. It's sad, really, because I saw a better film trying to break out, but couldn't. Oh well. Disappointing. Very disappointing.
If this gets posted, I am one fifth of the Magnificent Five and you can call me Sir Whoopee.
Sincerely,
Sir Whoopee
