“The Alamo” (Touchstone Pictures)
Back in 1960 when John Wayne directed and starred in “The Alamo,” the film had a sense of glory and majesty. It might have not been as authentic as the new version but it did pack more of an emotional wallop. In the new version which is directed by John Lee Hancock and stars Billy Bob Thornton, Jason Patric, Dennis Quaid and Patrick Wilson; the authenticity is more complete but the thrills are lacking.
The movie opens with Sam Houston (Quaid) receiving word that the Alamo has fallen to the Mexican Army under Santa Anna (Emilio Echevarria). Then the film flashes back to explore how this event came to happen. We see Jim Bowie (Patric) and William Travis (Wilson) come to an agreement about how to share command of the mission. Then we see Davy Crockett (Thornton) also arrive on the scene.
The majority of the film deals with the siege of “the Alamo” and the eventual massacre of all the troops within the confines of the main buildings and the outer walls. The battle sequences are filmed at night, as they actually happened. Still this makes them difficult to see and understand.
The main flaw with the film is you never really get to know the lead characters. You see that Houston drank too much, Travis divorced his wife and ignored his daughter, Bowie drank too much and suffered from a respiratory disease, and David “Davy” Crockett’s heroism was more a figment of an actor’s imagination than reality. But all this information is given by glimpses into their character rather than a total understanding of the people they are.
In the 1960 movie John Wayne was Crockett from the start and he infused the character with larger than life heroics. Thornton is the best actor in this movie but his turn as Crockett is more low key than dynamic. Quaid has only a few scenes as Houston and doesn’t get a chance to make too much of an impression.
Patric is soulful and brooding as Bowie but you never empathize with the man as much as you should. As Travis, Wilson is weak. He is the man in charge of the Alamo and yet you never trust him to save anyone.
The film is rated PG-13 for violence and profanity.
Maybe this movie should have stopped when the battle for the Alamo ended. Instead it goes on until Santa Anna is captured. With all the lead characters, save Houston, dead by now this continuance is a little anti-climactic and waters down the impact of the Alamo sacrifices.
The movie is good as a historical tool but as entertainment it is only average. When audiences remember “The Alamo” it is likely they will be thinking of the John Wayne version.
I scored “The Alamo” a forgotten 5 out of 10.
