Review: Gladiator (2000)

Gladiator

Rating

Director

Ridley Scott

Screenplay

David H. Franzoni, John Logan, William Nicholson

Length

155 min.

Starring

Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Richard Harris, Derek Jacobi, Djimon Hounsou, David Schofield, John Shrapnel

MPAA Rating

R (For intense, graphic combat)

Buy/Rent Movie

Soundtrack

Poster

Review

Freedom can be given, but it usually has to be taken. That’s the overriding theme of director Ridley Scott’s summer blockbuster Gladiator.

Gladiator is the story of a decorated Roman commander, Maximus (Russell Crowe), whose victories in battle can’t save him from the petty jealousy of Caesar Marcus Aurelius’ (Richard Harris) son Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). After he learns that Aurelius is to announce Maximus as the next heir to the throne, Commodus kills him in rage and seeks to castigate Maximus.

If Gladiator‘s plot sounds strangely familiar, perhaps it is: Maximus goes on a journey of self discovery after escaping persecution, he loses his family and becomes a slave to Proximo (Oliver Reed). As a slave, he is put forth as a charioteer…no…wait…I mean gladiator. The film plays agonizingly like the similar themed films Ben-Hur which won Best Picture more than 40 years prior. Perhaps Academy voters saw the film and though they were watching Ben-Hur and remembered it winning Best Picture so thought it was right to award it a second time.

There are differences between the two films. Some are indeed superficial and others more striking. First is the gladiator versus charioteer comparison. This is only a slight difference. Likewise is the similarity between Reed’s father figure and Hugh Griffith’s in Ben-Hur. Not so similar is that Maximus is full-blooded Roman. Judah Ben-Hur was a Jew. Gladiator is also not told in companion to the story of the birth and death of Jesus.

We also get a few more solid performances and a lot more friends in Gladiator. Maximus is blessed with a good friend in fellow gladiator Juba (Djimon Hounsou) and a beautiful and talented lover in Lucilla (Connie Nielsen). Overall, the talent in this film is decidedly above the standard set in Ben-Hur. However, compared with other films from 2000 and surrounding years, Gladiator falls well short.

Neilsen gives a solid performance as the vulnerable target of Maximus’ affections. Reed is likewise good, giving a terrific farewell performance (Reed died during filming). Hounsou is a suitable compatriot and does his best work since Amistad, though one can hardly consider Deep Rising a film for performances.

Crowe launches himself into the realm of box office draw with Gladiator. Anyone familiar with his work in L.A. Confidential knew he would be a terrific performer. The problem is he was given an Oscar for this film, perhaps because Charlton Heston was likewise honored for Ben-Hur and it was all a part of the Academy’s confusion. Crowe is good in the film, though far from Oscar-calibre.

The film’s other acting nomination went to Phoenix who does his best scenery chewing here. Much like the character Messala in the original Ben-Hur, Commodus is a role prone to overacting and that’s what Phoenix does, just like Stephen Boyd (though with an Oscar nod).

The film’s secondary disappointment is its editing. The earliest and most flagrant signs of weakness are in the first minutes of the film when Maximus leads his troops into a bloody victory. The camera sways and moans through shots trying to mimic reality while only confusing the audience, forcing them into a fit of convulsions trying to discover what exactly is happening. It’s never evident what’s going on other than the Romans are winning. Editor Pietro Scalia misses the entire point of editing. Editing isn’t intended to draw attention to itself (unless it’s thematically appropriate to the plot as in Fight Club); However, that’s exactly what it does herein.

Gladiator, though unintentionally, is a metaphor for the populist view of studios and audiences. People determine what gets made and if they flock to films like Dumb and Dumber and Ace Ventura, then those are the kinds of films the studios are going to make. One looks at the success of Gladiator as the perfect example of such. Although it is clearly not the best film of its year, it might as well be the best representation of an establishment such as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Awards Prospects

This has Oscar written all over it. Expect nominations for Picture, Director, Russell Crowe, Oliver Reed, Screenplay, Score, Editing (blech), Cinematograhy, Art Direction, Costume Design and Sound with Sound Effects a major possibility as well as Joaquin Phoenix and Connie Nielsen as potential nominees.