Troy

3/4

Starring: Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Brian Cox, Diane Kruger, Sean Bean, Peter O’Toole, Brendan Gleeson

The version being reviewed is the Unrated Director's Cut.  For the record, the theatrical cut was Rated R for Graphic Violence and Some Sexuality/Nudity

Although “Troy” is credited as being inspired by “The Illiad,” it’s probably best to completely separate the two stories.  In adapting the film for the screen, much of the epic poem was left out (like the activities of the gods…a good decision on the part of the filmmakers) or altered to the point where it’s not fair to compare them.  Instead, think of “Troy” as a film version of the myth of the Trojan War.

Agamemnon (Cox), king of Mycenae, is a megalomaniac bent on ruling the entire Aegean Sea.  The only thing that stands in his way is the powerful walled city of Troy.  He sees an opportunity to conquer it when after signing a peace treaty, his brother Menelaus’ (Gleeson) wife, Helen (Kruger), runs off to Troy with one its princes (Bloom).  Agamemnon gathers all the warriors of Greece to sail to Troy, but he needs the greatest hero of all, Achilles (Pitt).  The problem is that they hate each other, and Achilles has the vanity of a celebrity.  Nevertheless, Achilles agrees to come, and what results is indeed a war for the ages.

“Troy” is, obviously, a member of the “epic” genre.  Grand battles, larger than life characters, the whole bit.  In a daring move, Warner Brothers allowed Peterson to make the film R-rated, despite a very hefty price tag ($175 million).  Obviously, they were hoping for a similar reception that Mel Gibson’s “Braveheart” received.  I loved “Braveheart,” but I only liked “Troy.”  “Braveheart” was an exhilarating, epic adventure, with few (if any) flaws.  “Troy” has the size and scale down, but it has some big problems.

For one thing, the characters are strictly two-dimensional.  An epic needs characters we can rally behind from beginning to end, and villains who deserve nothing less than death.  The characters in “Troy” are flat; there’s no one to truly love or hate.  Director Wolfgang Peterson has assembled a cast of talented actors, but David Benioff’s script doesn’t allow for much depth.

Of greater importance is the film’s star, Brad Pitt.  Pitt is a gifted actor, but he completely misinterprets the character.  Achilles is the Ancient Greek celebrity stereotype: vain to the extreme, egotistic, and temperamental.  Pitt does portray him as this, but he also tries to humanize the character.  It doesn’t work.  By trying to play him both ways, Achilles becomes a character we feel nothing for.

The same cannot be said for some of the other characters in the film.  Orlando Bloom may never be a brilliant actor, but he’s effective here.  He plays Paris as a naiive teen who has seen far too many movies and soap operas.  Brian Cox is clearly enjoying himself as the snarling Agamemnon (his line, “Every son of Troy shall die” is delicious).  Diane Kruger is beautiful enough to make us believe that a king would send a thousand ships across the sea to get her back.  Sean Bean and Brendan Gleeson provide solid support as well.

Surprisingly, legendary actor Peter O’Toole does not give the best performance in the film.  O’Toole is good as the good but misled king, but he is not the most compelling character in the film.  That distinction belongs to Eric Bana, whose performance as Hector is very good.  It takes talent to make a noble hero like Hector into someone who is noble, but not so much that you want to strangle him.  Bana does it aplomb; he plays the character as a man of great honor, intelligence and heart.  The most intense action scene is not one of the many battles between the armies, but the one-on-one fight between him and Achilles, and that’s because Bana is so good.

Wolfgang Peterson has always been a master at directing action sequences.  Take “Air Force One,” for example.  The script could charitably be called absurd, and yet the film is a top-notch thriller; the action in that movie rivals ones in “The Rock.”  The action scenes in “Troy,” on the other hand, are surprisingly plain.  That’s because Peterson works best in closed spaces (“Air Force One”) or with a select few characters (“The Perfect Storm”).  The intimacy with the characters that results is a substitute for character development.  In an epic like this, more is needed.

Another problem is with the gore involved in the film.  Although there is a considerable amount of the red stuff, there’s not enough to make it realistic.  It seems like the movie is trying to straddle the line between a PG-13 and an R rating.  Consider “Braveheart,” which reveled in the blood and gore.  I’m not saying that more gore (or sex and nudity for that matter) would have made “Troy” better, but it would have made it seem less “wuss-”ified.

It’s been years since I’ve seen the theatrical cut of “Troy,” but the Director’s Cut works just fine, if not better.  Even at 3+ hours, it doesn’t feel that long.  I will say this, though.  Sometimes, Peterson overplays his hand with the violence.  Violence, blood and guts, sex and nudity are fine for the movies, but when he shows war rape and soldiers tearing babies from their mothers (and throwing away like footballs), it gets a little much for this sort of movie.  This sort of thing is unnecessary (mentioning it as a warning was enough).

Whichever version you see, it's a good night's entertainment.  But like with most "almost but not quites," it had the potential to be so much more.