ALEXANDER
MPAA Rating:
 for violence and some sexuality/nudityReviewed by: Chris Monroe Very Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
 ½Primary Audience:
Adults
Genre:
Action/Adventure
Length:
2 hr. 56 min.
Year of Release:
2004
USA Release:
______
    “Fortune favors the bold” Oliver Stone’s “Alexander” isn’t great. Apart from a few captivating moments, the greatest thing about it is its running time. Some scenes resonate with the current war in Iraq, but the strongest emphasis is the diversity of love relationships that Alexander has with others. Most of all, I didn’t feel engaged in the movie, and found it very difficult to sympathize with any of the characters. Beginning and ending with Alexander’s death, this story has another set of bookends with the character Ptolemy (Anthony Hopkins), who also provides narration throughout the story. Starting as a young boy, we see Alexander (Connor Paolo) growing up and being taught by his teachers as well as his mother, Olympias (Angelina Jolie). After Alexander (Colin Farrell) grows up, his “father” Philip (Val Kilmer) dies, and Alexander takes over the kingdom. He leads the people to conquer other kingdoms, until he is finally stopped in India. The story includes many historical facts and details, while also emphasizing some specific interpersonal relationships of Alexander’s. One poignant relationship is with his male friend, Hephaestion (Jared Leto). The night before battle, Alexander is looking nervous when his friend Hephaestion asks him, “Is there no love in your life?” Alexander begins opening up to him and speaks very intimately — confessing that it is only him that he loves. There is nothing physical that we see happen between them . It is also a relationship that causes Alexander’s wife, Roxanne (Rosario Dawson) to be jealous, and ask, “Do you love him?” to which Alexander replies, “There are many different ways to love.” The R-rating is due to battle related violence, sex and nudity. I did not notice any foul language. After Alexander is confronted by his wife, he begins to force himself on her and strips her clothes off. (This scene is reminiscent of a prior scene where Philip forces himself on Olympias until he is stopped.) During their scuffle, Alexander is impressed by how Roxanne is fighting back and compliments her for her lack of fear. He is impressed by her and says that he will die for this kind of love. Consequently, he tells her that his life is hers and declares that she will have his son. A somewhat explicit sex scene follows. The idea of homosexuality is referenced or implied several times throughout this story. Besides hints in his relationship with Hephaestion, it is also implied that Alexander is sleeping with his man-servant, who is disappointed when Alexander tells him he will be bathing alone one night. Later, we see Alexander subtly inviting him to bed. On another night, at a party, the people watch a show of male dancers, coupled together with hints of homoeroticism. When coaxed by the crowd after the performance, Alexander gives in and kisses one of the male dancers - followed by a cringe from his wife. Another possible element of the director’s visions for this film is the relevance to the current war in Iraq. There are moments that can be inferred to relate to President Bush leading our country into war. After having conquered so much, Alexander wants to continue and conquer more, but the people are not with him. They say, “We’ve seen too many people die,” and exclaim how they want to see their families again. Alexander tries to keep it positive and promises them pensions, and boasts of how he took them farther than his father did. However, the film seemed neutral on the subject, not trying to take sides on this issue, and any reference to current events is subjective. Having been entertained by previous Olive Stone films, it was surprisingly difficult to find much entertaining here. The greatest sequence is the battle in India — involving very stylized elements. This reviewer wishes that Stone would have incorporated more of this approach to the entire film, rather than only at the end. The straightforward narrative aspects made it a bit dry. The fact that it was extremely difficult to sympathize with the characters made it all the more disengaging. It might have been much more enjoyable if Stone has used the strength he has with poetic images and done the entire film in that way.  NEGATIVE Negative - Please…please…PLEASE don't waste your time to see this movie.
I try to keep an open mind about movies, knowing that many of them are not
made with Christian virtues in mind, but watching this movie with an open
mind still made me cringe and regret seeing it. I was so excited to see
this historical movie, being that we just finished Daniel in church and
wanting a little more information about Alexander, but this movie provided
me with nothing of the context I wanted. I would suggest to anyone who
wants to see this movie for its historical value to buy a book instead
(which will probably be the same amount of money as your movie ticket
anyways!) And anyone who wants to see this movie for entertainment
value…listen to the Spirit telling you to flee ALL immorality and walk
as far away from the fence as possible. The grass is NOT greener on the
side of the fence that Alexander is playing on. I pray that those who
read this will take a sister’s advice and watch a more positively moral
and better quality movie than this. Negative - Alexander is 1. filled with pompous, long-winded and ridiculous dialogue, 2. boring and unenjoyable, 3. relentless in its homoeroticism and guys with eye makeup and hair like a male strippers in Los Angeles, 4. gratuitously violent and sexual, 5. impossible to follow, like why did Alexander need to wear a white chiffon dress and where did his friend get a brand new bathrobe from out there in the Indian desert, 6. apparently under the direction of Edward D. Wood, Jr., as in, what was up with the pink trees and the elephants with umbrellas from like the British Raj but it was 300 BC or whatever, and 6. a waste of time and money. It was bad-funny a few times, but not enough to get it to Mystery Science Theater 3000. Avoid this film. Negative - I finally walked out. I was very repulsed with the homosexual undertheme. I understand that the past had other views on such practices, but I don’t care to view them. The battle scenes tried hard, but were lost in the wide angle shot too far away. Instead of greatness it gave us bickering, rough nude foreplay, and poor dialogue. Ptolemy was the only redeeming performance. Negative - I waited a long time to see Alexander. Alexander failed to live up to the exciting previews and anticipation it generated several months ago. Oliver Stone seems to have two messages on his mind, bisexuality and homosexuality. The historical evidence does not lend any thought to Alexander being bisexual anymore than George W. Bush could have once played goalie for the Indianapolis Ice. I suppose it is possible that Bush could have been a goalie once, but certainly far from probable. Where did Stone come up with such a goofy idea? Negative - Don’t waste your money on this film. It is full of sexual
perversion, mysticism, and violence. It is overly long and the battle
scenes were so rapidly flashed and stylized that I could not follow them
and became bored with them. This seems to be more an attempt to promote
perversion than to present a factual account of Alexander and his
conquests. I can in no way recommend this film. Negative - I went to see this movie because I thought it was going to be a
grand epic film about the conquests of Alexander the great. I thought, its
a major big-budget film with great material from Oliver Stone, one of the
most well-respected directors in Hollywood, how can they mess up? I’ll
tell you how, by turning Alexander the Great into Alexander the sexually
confused, weepy, paranoid, momma’s boy. The Alexander depicted in this
film was crying almost the whole time throughout the movie, how on earth
did he get the monicker “Great”? There was absolutely no plot whatsoever.
Why did Alexander want to conquer the world? To free the “barbarians” of
the world by bringing them Greek culture? I don’t think so. More like
running away from his creepy, obsessive mother. This movie was also
incredibly boring. There are only two battles in this three hour flick and
the battles are so confusing that they have to explain who won in the end!
Too bad there’s no Lord of the Rings movie this year. Please, save you’re
money. Go see Spongebob or National Treasure, or any other film out there. Negative - To anyone considering this movie, please consider this review.
This movie was an extreme let down. I love period pieces, but I was ready
for a full refund within the first fifteen minutes. I TRULY regret
waisting my time and hard earned money to see unrighteousness and blatant
wickedness glorified and even “justified” on the big screen. There were
several overt and unashamed references encouraging homosexuality. Even
homosexual intercourse!! In one scene King Philip is quickly seen raping
another man at one of his feasts! In another an absolutely nude Alexander
motions for a male servant to come and join him in his bed for the
night,(implying that sexual activities will be taking place.) This movie
is outrageous! I TRULY, TRULY, TRULY regret supporting this wickedness
with my God-given money. Even if the homosexuality were not so blatant,
the plot and story-line were completely unintriguing. I did not have any
sympathy for any of the characters in this film. I was so offended that I
inevitably became completely disengaged with this utter waste of a film. Negative - Yikes! My friends and I went to see it with the idea that it would
be a good war movie. Were we ever wrong and disappointed! This film is
Homosexual Propaganda “in your face.” No Christ-follower can call this
movie morally acceptable as it clearly propagates and revels in the
support of Homosexuality. It’s the icing on the cake after all the “gay
marriage” support this year. Don’t go see it. Don’t allow your children
to see it. 40 minutes into the film, my friends and I walked out of the movie theater just as the film was portraying Alexander about to make out and sleep with his boy friend. Don’t know if they showed it on screen, but we were not willing to find out! At one of his parties, it has a scene implying of male rape of a servant. One of the teachings that Alexander learns from his teacher as a boy was something to the effect of “Love between a man and a man is what builds city-states.” Need I say more? Negative - I saw this film with hopeful expectations, as a Veteran. It focuses on violence scenes, on relationships (homo- family dysfunctional-bad marriage) the only redeeming factor was background locations were probably accurate. I had hoped to see what it was about; the man that gave him a nature that could intimidate so many to follow him-the movie showed none of this aspect at all. As a veteran - I wouldn’t have followed such a indecisive man anywhere. He lives to the age of 33 - same as our Lord - but that is the only comparison to see. The only strong parts are; that it is violent- graphic in fighting scenes- dysfuctional people in colorful costumes in colorful locations with not much of real value to say- Angeloine Jolie does good in playing a woman of trickery and underhandness - like current soap operas. If you are an animal lover - seeing animals die and cut up, will not sit well with you even though they are simulated. The horse was one of the better actors. Scenes of traitorous men left in mangled positions are not needed. I advise NOT letting anyone see this. No gain. Negative - Don’t waste your time or money. The homosexual scenes were
offensive and too much of the movie was focused on that. It was also too
long and boring. I fell asleep through part of it because it did not hold
my interest and left before it was over. Negative - Unfortunately, my husband and I opted for this movie instead of
National Treasure. It was a snore for 3 long offensive hours. The
homosexual overtones were everywhere. At first I tried to think
objectively, but it soon became very pervasive and left us squirming in
our seats with revulsion. I was horrified at the male rape scene, however
brief. This movie was filthy from start to finish. We were disgusted at
the nudity. The sight of Collin Ferrell’s genitalia was highly offensive.
I am saddened that I payed good money on such affrontery as Stone
portrayed in this movie. I couldn’t wait to leave. Negative - Read the other comments here…in a nutshell, I was hoping for
something that was at least ok, but it was leagues below other great epic
films that we have come to love in the last decade or so. Sure, the
scenery and costuming and final battle scene are decently done for a big
budget movie, but that’s only the bare minimum we expect, and it doesn’t
make up for the rest of the 3 hours of boring monologues, expressions of
love and kisses between gay lovers, and the half a dozen or more flashes
of a nude woman that were in no way beneficial to me. I really wish I
hadn’t gone to see it! Negative - I was pretty excited on seeing this movie, but after viewing it I
was so disappointed. This film is very offensive indeed! I didn’t enjoy
watching it. I just wasted my money! It didn’t have any good points, I
mean at any scene. Negative - DON’T WATCH THIS MOVIE! I REPEAT DON"T WATCH THIS
MOVIE! Not only was this movie gory, sexually explicit, and much
more, it was also horribly made. What could of been a great movie turned
out to be a disaster. If you even consider going to this movie, consider
the countless negative reviews. Went I went to this movie I was hoping it
would be a step better than the OK 'Troy'. Instead I got an extremely
boring story full of holes. I also got more than my share of violence and
sex. Perhaps the worst thing is that I had to see Colin Farell naked and
acting gay. In general I am not very sensitive to violence and sexuality,
but this movie was over the top. Perhaps the worst part of this movie
though was the simply just horrible moviemaking. I know Oliver Stone could
have done a lot better than this. Not that you’ve heard what I’ve had to
say, if you decide to see this movie anyway, you must just love horrible
movies. Negative - Amazingly Offensive! I enjoy action movies, especially those of a
historical nature. I am still in disbelief… Negative - The movie was poorly made, to be sure. Still, I wonder why
homosexuality is so offensive to many Christians when God spends a lot
more time in the Bible condemning murder, liars and lust. We have no
problem viewing violence, but God forbid we see two men kiss? I’m not
defending homosexuality, but it is no worse a sin than murder. Or cursing,
or whatever. I think too many movie-going Christians are picking and
choosing sins that they are uncomfortable with and ignoring the ones they
find less offensive. NEUTRAL Neutral - I saw this film on the day it came out and needless to say, I’m blown away by it. Morally speaking, this is pretty bad, but what does one expect from an R-rated film? There’s only some minor nudity and Alexander has a “friendship” with one of his officers, Hephaistion. Neutral - Basically, in today’s society what do we expect to come from
Hollywood. Why be shocked and appalled at a movie, that you know, in its
entirety will be overall offensive. Its rated R as a warning, that there
may be some offensive scenes involved. If your children are not allowed to
see it, then what is the difference in you seeing it? It desensitizes both
groups,and in whole, basically leaves both with a feeling of “tolerance.”
In all, I do not find the movie to be appalling. Homoeroticism is basically
around us every day. In part, the movie describes a “lesser” example of
what we see daily. I have no objections to a older child seeing this. I
would prefer them see a screen than a live relationship. POSITIVE Positive - The film was slow to start and slow to finish. Technically it was great…evidence would say its historically correct. If you’re the brand that wants a Christian-filtered version of history, this may not be the film for you. Positive - Alexander was a great historical movie. I feel that Oliver Stone
did a great job portraying Alexander and his life. Of course, this movie
does have objectional content but, it is an R-rated movie so you should
not bring your children. The fight scenes were well done and the sexual
scenes were like candy to me. If you are looking for a good historical
movie this is it. Positive - I liked this movie. While there may be content that some would
find objectional, that’s just how it is. You really can’t expect to go to
a movie about Alexander the Great and not see some homoeroticism, and you can’t see a movie about ancient Mesopotamia without seeing mysticism, and you DEFINITELY can’t expect to see a movie about war in ancient times without violence, and any movie about ancient times is bound to have some sex. Positive - Alexander is a great film in that it is completely historically
accurate and portrays Alexander as a human rather than an epic hero. Comments from young people Negative - I saw this film on a field trip for my Ancient history and Latin
classes. I have to say that although I could see that a clear effort was
made to create an epic film…the blatant sexuality of the characters
ruined the experience for me. I was not impressed with Alexander’s
homosexuality, but seeing as I’d been warned that many Mediterranean
peoples had no problems with it, I won’t make a fuss. However, I was
really not impressed with the sex scene between alexander and his wife. I
definitely would not advise children to see this, for although it’s
historically accurate (for a film), the themes are a bit too…mature. Negative - Laughably bad! Historically ludicris! Morally offensive! They
turned Alexander the Great into Alexander the gay, and Oliver Stone(d)
once again revises history as he sees fit. Negative - This film loses its grip on plot about thirty minutes in, keeping in mind it’s a three hour long film. It doesn’t know where it’s going, or what its purpose is. When characters die, you have no emotional attachment to them, and could care less. There’s also no good moral content, with a very extended sex scene with plenty of nudity, three scenes of rape, and one in which you see Colin completely nude. There is a very strong homosexual relationship, which I wasn’t offended by because it’s true, but I’m sure it will offend many. There is plenty of over-acting, Stone’s vision was too much for the cast to handle (Casting Jolie as Alex’s Mother? Ick.)..The movie is rather dull, and by the end, you’re ready to get out and never think of it again. Negative - I’m a 15 year old who went with his parents to see this movie hoping for a good movie. I got so mad that less then half way through it, I told my parents, and we left the theater. DON’T WASTE YOU’RE TIME! Movie Critics
“…far from great… a beautifully wrapped package, but open it up and there’s nothing there…” “…What Stone has delivered instead is no folie de grandeur, but rather the last thing one would have expected from him: an honorable failure…” “…an ambitious and sincere film that fails to find a focus for its elusive subject…” “…hot-wires history and politics into a wild, memorable, breathtaking ride…” “…falls short of epic status… Farrell’s lone heterosexual scene is extremely graphic and further highlights his character’s revulsion for women…” |
