Hey folks, Harry here. Now for some odd reason, the crusty seaman known as Quint has gone and decided to tell you that he's about the age of 18, meaning basically that he wasn't alive when STAR WARS came out, and being the youngster in the pack... well... Let's put it this way. When I first met Quint, he had never seen EVIL DEAD 2, and MUMMY movie ever... He had never seen an Epic other than TEN COMMANDMENTS and... well he had holes in his film education the likes of which you wouldn't believe. About 3 years later, the boy has grown. I'd gladly put him up against any film geek his age. He leaves my house with 5 tapes in his hands, he just took a job at a video store... where he is studying. I give Quint a lot of guff from time to time, but I know of noone with as honest and purity of love towards film that this boy has. He is a sponge, a film consumer ever searching for his all-you-can-eat-buffet. He watches... EVERYTHING, and has a desire to seek out that which he has yet to see. He also loves to get jazzed for a movie. On this particular night, Quint had that... dazed sort of... "How full of shit is Harry?" look in his eye. In a fairly disgusting display of girth, we were forced in this packed house to share adjoining seats. I teased that I would tickle him throughout the film, but the reality is... when Gladiator plays... church is in session. You shall honor the screen. Just as you will now honor... Ah fuck that, Yo... Quint... Rave on!
Ahoy fellow geeks, Constant Readers... ladies and gentlemen. This is where I'd usually say, "Everybody's favorite crusty ol' seaman here once again." Not today. Today I say, "Everybody's favorite crusty young seaman here once again." I know it's not that big of a deal, but I'm gonna publicly announce that I am a young guy. I started writing for Harry over two years ago when I was 16 going on 17.
Every time somebody asked my age, I'd kinda avoid it. I found with some people the fact that I was so young all of a sudden rendered my opinion of a film null and void. Some of you guys (and gals) don't care, which is great. All I wanted was to be accepted the way Harry (late 20s) was accepted. The way Father Geek was accepted. The way Moriarty was accepted. Jesus... that reads like a line from a bad Meryl Streep movie, but you know what I mean.
Why this sudden urge to tell all? Well, I wanted to write a review for Gladiator, but I realized how much coverage it had already gotten on this site. I'd be damned if I didn't get my word in on this film, but I needed something to set my review apart from the others. I can't weave words as well as Moriarty, I can't come up with wacky, way out there shit like Harry can (at least at the rate that he does), so I was pretty much down to writing it from the point of view of guy in his late teens. Harry had the 20s down, Moriarty had the god knows how old review down... I hadn't seen one review from somebody in their teens.
Anyway, on to the actual review! To start off: my expectations were so very high for this film. I mean I've had to listen to Harry rub the coolness of this film in my face for the last 2 months. Every single time we met up (which was often) at a movie, at a gathering of some sort, I was always told how much I sucked for not seeing Gladiator. Father Geek was a little kinder, but would often play along with Harry in his taunts.
After two months of build up I finally saw the film. I ended up having to sit in the seat next to Harry (not the most comfortable seat in the house, considering out combined bulk) with promises of tickling, poking and prodding all through the movie. I was in for it and I knew it.
Goddamn. I mean Goddamn! Even with all that my jaw was still on the floor, stuck in a puddle of 2 day old soda, for most of the movie. I was and still am in awe of this film. I don't remember the drive home. In the days that followed the screening I still couldn't stop thinking about the movie.
Since Gladiator has been and will continue to be compared to Braveheart, I have to say that I like it a lot more. Now I do love Braveheart, but Gladiator has it beat. Maybe it's just because I'm more fascinated by the Roman civilization or like the characters or even like the story lines that connect the gory battles together more. I don't know for sure. I love Mel Gibson, especially in Braveheart, but Russell Crowe... everybody has already said it, so I don't need to. Just know that the sold out crowd at the screening I went to was chanting Maximus... Maximus! "My name is Gladiator." Absolutely badass!
Oliver Reed! I hate the fact that he's gone, but I love it that his final performance is a career best. He is just plainly amazing as Proximo. He's intense, funny, sympathetic, tragic and just plain old badass all at the same time.
Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus. I remember seeing this guy as the robot friendly Max in Space Camp... under the name Leif Phoenix and around the age of 12 if I'm not mistaken. He has the role of the young King, the villain of the film. If he wasn't convincing in his actions, his emotions and his humanity in the film, the segments that didn't feature Crowe would have fallen apart, leaving a broken movie. But he succeeded marvelously. A great well-rounded villain. You hate him, but you also sympathize with him.
One of the surprises for me in terms of acting came from the youngest member of the cast, a kid by the name of Spencer Treat Clark who plays Commodus' nephew Lucious. You might remember him from Arlington Road. Anyway, he turns in quite a quality performance in the little screen time he has.
The battles are epic in scope, beautiful, but incredibly disturbing at the same time. The gladiator duels are classic. Each one topping the previous in the nailbiting, pulse pounding suspense. My favorite being the battle between Crowe and the undefeated gladiator.
Gladiator is the first great film of the 21st Century. I will see it again on Wednesday and will post in talkback how well the film holds up. I believe it will be just as glorious as the first time around.
So, there you have it. From a teenager. From a film buff. From just another guy. However you want to take it. Or not. And on that note, my fellow geeks and constant readers, I bid you farewell.... and adieu.
-Quint
