Review of Spartacus (1960) by Jonathan H — 04 May 2012
Spartacus is like most Kirk Douglas vanity projects, only this time, it's longer, more overwrought, and wholly self-righteous. Douglas didn't get the lead in Ben-Hur, he pouted, and bought the film rights to Howard Fast's novel himself so he can be in an epic too.
What a petulant child -- excuse me, what a petulant child, who's a horrible actor. The only redeeming quality is the strong supporting cast (Olivier, Ustinov, and Laughton, most notably). Kubrick's imprint is nowhere to be found, and really, can you blame him for wanting to distance himself from this film? If I wanted to watch a bloated lead character performance with broadly-drawn altruism and inane inspirational speeches, I'd go to a community theater production.
This review of Spartacus (1960) was written by Jonathan H on 04 May 2012.
Spartacus has generally received very positive reviews.
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