I once said, a couple of weeks ago, that, if necessary, I would give
up my left nut in order to see this movie. In retrospect, I am overjoyed
that it did not come to this, as it isn't exactly what I would call
"nutworthy."
"Gladiator" is the story of a Roman general named Maximus
(Russell Crowe), Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) and
the would-be emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix).
After the film starts off with a bang in the battlefields of Germania,
Aurelius tells Maximus of the plans he has for Rome. These plans do
not include his son, Commodus, being emperor. Instead he wants to
appoint Maximus as "protector of Rome" until the Senate
can take control, and make Rome a republic again.
After the death of Aurelius, Commodus, upset by his father's decision,
arranges for the execution of Maximus and his family. Where he succeeds
with the family, he fails with Maximus.
With nothing left of his life, Maximus is captured, after succumbing
to complete exhaustion, and sold to a man by the name of Proximo (Oliver
Reed). Proximo is in the entertainment business, which means, given
the time period, he is a promoter of Gladiator fights. The Don King
of the Roman era if you will.
After a period of time Commodus decides to reinstate the gladiator
fights to celebrate his father's reign, or so he says. This leads
to a date with the Coliseum in Rome for Proximo and his men.
This is where Maximus will seek, both his freedom and to avenge the
murders of his wife and son.
Director Ridley Scott (Blade Runner) does a splendid job of bringing
ancient Rome to life. It looks every bit the same as I imagined it
to be in the daydreams of my youth. The politics are melded with the
action with great precision to show the motivations of those involved.
Thus keeping you involved when all hell is not breaking loose.
Speaking of hell breaking loose. I shall now speak out on my lone
gripe with this film. The opening battle sequence had the potential
to be something truly spectacular. Scott uses his score with mastery
to get the heart racing as he intercuts battle preparations, and Maximus'
charge to the front. While it did have my jaw on the floor in awe
of it's enormous scope, it lost me during the hand to hand combat.
Once Maximus makes it to the frontlines the battle scenes are intercut
at various speeds, ranging from ridiculously slow to ridiculously
fast. I ask one question. Why can't we watch the battle in real time?
Life is fast enough as it is. I like to feel like I am involved when
I watch a movie, specially one of this nature. But when camera tricks
such as these are used I feel completely disconnected, which was alltogether
bothersome for me. On the upside, Scott does have a firm grasp on
how to introduce humor into a film of this nature. It is used with
subtlety and at precisely the right time. Take note Besson.
The performances are top notch for the most part. Richard Harris (Unforgiven)
is his usual wonderful self as Marcus Aurelius. Connie Nielson (Mission
to Mars) gives an endearing performance as Aurelius' daughter Lucilla.
She is a woman torn between her father's memory, her brother's incestuous
advances, her son's safety and her love for Maximus. She pulls this
role off without a hitch. A jaw-droppingly good performance is given
by Oliver Reed as Proximo. I knew nothing of the man until Dale mentioned
something about him dying during the production of this film. Knowing
his fate it adds a certain weight to his scenes, especially one where
he discusses death with his gladiators. Compelling to say the least.
My one area of trepidation with this film was the casting of Joaquin
Phoenix as Commodus. I began to get cold feet days before the release
of the film for this reason. Thankfully my fears were unfounded. He
does a wonderful job of playing a manipulative wannabe emperor. He's
one of those characters that you love to hate. He is not on a level
with Tim Roth's smarmy little whelp, Archibald Cunningham, who was
the definition of evil, but Commodus, nonetheless, is still quite
detestable.
Finally, this brings us to Russell Crowe's portrayal of Maximus. He
brings so much to this role, that it makes you realize that he truly
is one of our finest actors. Maximus is a character that very easily
could have been one dimensional, but Crowe makes him someone you care
about from beginning to end. Truly a joy to watch this man constantly
evolve as an actor. I first saw him in "L.A.
Confidential", and then was blown away by his performance
in "The Insider". Now
we have Gladiator, which deserves to stand alongside these other two
films in his resume. I can't wait to see what he does next.
With that said. I implore you to go and see this movie. It has it's
faults, but they are overwhelmed by the film's positive benefits.
So much so that I saw the film twice over the weekend. Besides what
else are you going to see at the theater? "28 Days"? I think
not. At this early stage in the game, "Gladiator" stands
as the best of 2000. That should be all the motivation you need. Now
go!
