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A Short Review by Joe Soria
Mel Gibson received $25 million dollars upfront from Sony Pictures to
deliver a Braveheart like epic of a film. What they got was sappy garbage
with some factual basis about a supposed American hero, who was not actually
such a great person, and a few good fight scenes.
Gibson plays Benjamin Martin, a widower who does not wish to go to war with the
British. He does not want his 7 children to see the horrors of war right in
front of them.
The film has a few too many slow motion shots, not enough war scenes. Although I
even got a little teary eyed when Gibson runs across a battlefield holding that
American flag like he would in a joust battle. But it doesn't make up for the
rest of the 164 minutes of my life that I wasted with this film.
In the main role, Mel Gibson does his patriotic shtick and is not terrible. The problem of the
film is young Aussie Heath Ledger, previously seen in 10 Things I Hate About
You. He's just bad, he recites his lines like he's reading off a paper. His
chemistry with Mel is the pits, and the worst I've seen between a father and son
possibly ever. Their chemistry is horrifying. Plus their is a terrible
performance Joely Richardson as Gibson's sister in law who becomes his lover.
Yuch!
The director of the film is not surprisingly also part of the producers who
brought the summer one of its all time mishaps Godzilla, that's right
Roland Emmerich. His latest production is another doozy in his and Dean Devlin's
productions. Remember The 13th Floor, a film released last year
the same week as Star Wars. Neither do I. Less big budget crap means more money
to go towards good movies. By the way, if Godzilla 2 gets made I'm
sending a hit man to Devlin and Emmerich's houses. That's enough bashing for one
review. Don't see this movie, it's bad for you.
Stars: Mel Gibson, Chris Cooper, Heath Ledger
Rating: 1 out of 4 stars
Rated R for strong war violence
Running Time: A tortuous and never ending 164 minutes
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An excellent score from John Williams, composer for all the Star Wars
flicks.