Gladiator
(2000)
Rated: R
Runtime: 2 Hours and 35 Minutes
Reviewer: Jones
Grade: A-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!
Reviewer: Dale
Grade: B+"I am Maximus. Father to a murdered son. Husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next."
As Russell Crowe uttered this line, and did so with the sort of toughness that men like Jean Claude Van Damme can only dream of, I felt a chill run down my spine. It was that powerful of a moment. And it is all thanks to Russell Crowe, who is quickly emerging as one of our finest actors. There are few men in modern cinema capable of delivering such a line and making a cold ripple trickle down your backbone. Crowe is one of them. Were it not for his magnificent performance, it is doubtful that this movie would work at all. If it did, it certainly would not be the thrill machine that it is now.
"Gladiator" follows the exploits of Maximus. He begins as the leader of the Roman army under Emperor Marcus Aurellis (Richard Harris, fine as always). Marcus joins Maximus on the front lines to give him some important news. It seems that he has decided to give his son the shaft as it were and proclaim Maximus the next Emperor of Rome. Maximus does not really want the job, however. All he wants is to return home to the wife and son that he has not seen in two years.
Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) wants the job. He wants it quite desperately in fact. So much so that he kills his dying father and sentences Maximus and his family to death in order to assure himself a place on the throne of Rome. Maximus escapes. His family is not so lucky.
While Maximus is mourning (and, Lord, what mourning, Crowe presents a very moving and heartbreaking picture of the immense loss this man has suffered) he is captured by a group of slave traders and forced into gladiator combat under Proximo (the late, great Oliver Reed).
The other gladiators toy with their opponents for a while before killing them. Maximus walks into the arena, slaughters all the men, and then returns to the pit where he lives. He only changes his manner when Proximo informs him that great gladiators are often presented with their freedom....at the hands of the Emperor. In this, Maximus sees his chance for revenge.
There is a great deal of court intrigue and politics in this movie, and it is stirring and fascinating. Motives are explained. Light is shed upon tactics. We always know what is happening and why in a story that in less assured hands would easily have become confusing.
The only time the film does become confusing is in its battle scenes. These sequences are edited very quickly, in a way that I suppose is meant to convey the high speed of combat. I suppose I can see this reasoning, but in a movie whose point is to show battles and man to man combat, it would have been nice for them to pace the scenes so that I would not have to struggle to determine what was happening and to whom.
Other than that, I have no complaints about the film. The acting is uniformly good. I had never heard of Oliver Reed before hearing that he had died during the filming of this movie. But after seeing him in this, I want to seek out some of his other films. He is a mighty presence in this movie. I was worried about how well I would like Joaquin Phoenix, but those fears were thankfully ungrounded. I enjoyed his performance here as a weaselly tyrant. He strikes just the right note as this impatient little whelp and I found him enjoyable. I also liked Connie Nielsen as his scheming sister, to whom Joaquin seems to have a little too much brotherly love. Hell, even the kid in this movie is good. Take note Lucas.
There is a little humor in this movie, but it is light, subtle humor. It is the kind that adds to a movie like this rather than distracting from it. This is another lesson that more filmmakers could learn. In "The Messenger: Joan of Arc" for example, I found that the touches of humor brought the film to a standstill. Here they flow effortlessly, as they should. They break the tension precisely when it needs breaking and flow from the narrative rather than being shoe-horned into it.
But it is Crowe's performance that makes this film breathe. He is as good here as Harrison Ford was in the "Indiana Jones" films, or as Mel Gibson was in the "Mad Max" movies. His character is given little with which to work, but Russell finds subtle nuances in the character that even the screenwriter probably hadn't considered. He brings this man to life and makes us care deeply about him. In "The Insider" he was given a powerhouse role and he was magical in it. But here he shows that he can work wonders with even average material. That is why this performance will make him a star.
So, like a Caeser, I will give this film a thumb up. That means that I allow it to live. In fact, I hope it lives well, and that the summer's other entertainments will be at least as good as this one.