Alexander
2004
**
Director: Oliver Stone
Cast: Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer, Jared Leto, Anthony Hopkins
Oliver Stone's ambitious but meandering epic fails to shed light on Alexander the Great as a historical figure or as a private person. The film is overlong, but not long enough to explore the character properly. Alexander conquers half the known world in two well-mounted but baffling battle scenes. The man also marries a barren Persian woman but his true love is his lifelong male companion Hephaestion, although we never see it go beyond wet glances and brotherly hugs. Val Kilmer is the only member of the cast to pack a wallop.
