Review of Alexander (1996) by Roxy G — 14 Aug 2011

It had the cast, the sets, the scale and the imagination, but why then does it feel quite so hollow? Alexander is an enigma of a film. There are parts that I enjoyed a lot, but others that left me bored to tears, and I can't quite explain to myself where it started to lose it's way.

Colin Farell does a good job of the eponymous hero, Jolie and Kilmer chew the scenery adequately enough as his parents, and the calm but authoritative presence of Anthony Hopkins is there to guide us every step of the way, but it's all the things the film doesn't have that are all the more glaring.

It feels like a history textbook that has been filmed scene for scene, it lacks a dramatic narrative and seems determined not to deviate from the (admittedly rather large) plot, and is happy to plod along in the very safe and unadventurous waters of basic historical plot points.

It is also baggy, far too long, and often very predictable. It has scale, and manages to pull of the large set pieces well, but where it struggles is the micro-drama, and character relations, and as such you view everyone on screen as a caricature and are never able to really care enough about any of it to bring emotions into play.

Alexander looks good on paper, and promises the world, but sadly, unlike the man himself, it just hasn't got enough to deliver.