film: review
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TROY (2004)
An entertaining and well cast epic despite the very loose ties to its source
material.
By John
C. Lyons
Film Critic
Starring: Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Diane Kruger, Brian Cox, and Peter O’Toole
Directed by: Wolfgang Peterson
Written by: Homer (poem), David Benioff (screenplay)
Genre: Action/Drama
Our Rating: 8.5/10
Troy is a gigantic film based on Homer’s epic story about the Trojan War. The whole thing comes about when Paris (Bloom), who has to be one of the least likeable characters in history, enjoys a nice meal with Menelaus the King of Sparta (Gleeson) and then decides he wants to take a little more than dessert back to Troy with him: Helen, Menelaus’ wife. This action causes the Greeks to unite in a bloody war against the Trojan army, lead by Hector (Bana). The Greek leadership is chaotic and political, bringing with them the oftentimes uncontrollable war machine Achilles (Pitt) to try and turn the tides.
The film weighs in at well over 2 hours, but I didn’t notice and I hope this doesn’t keep anyone from seeing it. The performances are all top-notch with plenty of highlighted clashes between the main characters (I loved the Hector/Achilles battle) to keep the action tense and interesting. Brad Pitt will again be overlooked for his accomplishments here, and that’s a shame. We make movie stars (like Pitt and Cruise) God-like nowadays and it hurts them because when the statues come out everyone would rather see an unknown awarded than someone whose face we see in the tabloids every day. But Pitt has plenty of great supporters here and there isn’t a weak link among them.
Troy has something for everyone: hot men in skirts for the women and awesome action scenes for the men. And even though all the more unbelievable elements (the battles between the gods) were cut out I think the story shouldn’t fail to entertain. I could also tell that an effort was made to tone down some of the violence during the war sequences. Not to say that the film didn’t earn its R rating, but there have been much bloodier battles in films like Braveheart then you will find here. What I am trying to say is, unless you are a diehard Iliad fan (who will probably be unimpressed by the film’s liberties with the story) you should be able to find something here to enjoy.
I saw this film at Cinemark’s Tinseltown 17 Theater on Peach Street in Erie, PA.
(04-0602)
related
links:
Troy
- official site
MPAA
rating: R
for graphic violence and some sexuality/nudity
length: 163 minutes
