Troy

Oh dear! Proof, if any were needed, that money and a galaxy of stars alone do not make a good film. Avoided this at the cinema because I suspected this might happen. Wolfgang Peterson has a lot to answer for in a film that looks stunning (production design, esp. costume for which it is rightly oscar nominated, is the only winner here), but fails in every other area - too slow to be exciting, too moronic to be educational; the script is risible, and you have to feel sorry for Brad Pitt and Eric Bana who look pained by some of the lines they were forced to say. At least they came out of it with dignity mostly intact, which cannot honestly be said for Orlando Bloom, who was simply awful! Brian Cox and Sean Bean were also made to look bad despite their gallant efforts, and the only member of the cast to rise above it all was Peter O'Toole, who had obviously seen it all before and went his own way. Homer will surely be spinning in his pyre for a few years yet till the memory of this dies away. 3.5/10 Kx