Alexander

Starring Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer, Anthony Hopkins, Rosario Dawson, Jared Leto

Rated R

Oliver Stone is the best living American director besides Martin Scorsese, which is maybe why Stone’s new film, “Alexander,” is such a disappointment. Don’t get me wrong – Stone’s vision of the Macedonian conqueror is fascinating and sometimes even brilliant – but at times, it’s a complete mess.

Colin Farrell stars as Alexander the Great, who, as narrator Ptolemy (Anthony Hopkins) tells us, conquered the known world by the age of 25. Angelina Jolie is Alexander’s mother, Olympias, who knows Alexander was born to lead, but is afraid that Alexander’s father, Philip (Val Kilmer) will take that all away from Alexander. Once Stone gets through telling us about the conflicts of Alexander’s parents, he tells us about the great conqueror’s love life. Alexander was (apparently) a famed bisexual, who was married to Roxane (Rosario Dawson) but was actually in love with Hephaistion (Jared Leto.)

            The film also features some thrilling battle sequences that keep the viewer wide awake even if the rest of the film doesn’t.

            In the end, “Alexander” feels somehow strange, like Stone isn’t quite finished with the film; maybe he needs to retool certain scenes – I don’t know. But the film is certainly an excellent achievement, an epic in all senses, even if it is a bit cluttered and disorganized. To compare it in the ranks of Stone masterpieces like “Platoon” and “JFK” is unjust; instead, “Alexander” stands right next to “Any Given Sunday” as a near masterpiece that simply needs revision.  

  
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