Remember the Alamo? Youll want to forget this version

Thursday, April 15, 2004

After several pre-production delays and a shift from a higher-profile December date, The Alamo has finally stumbled into theaters. With all the behind-the-scenes turmoil, its a credit to The Alamo that it doesnt have the feel of a big-budget disaster. Then again, its not as if the movie has any kind of feel. The Alamo is ultimately nothing more than an excruciatingly painful two hours and 15 minutes, in which director John Lee Hancock stretches the patience of his audience. Its one thing to try to create tension for your film, but when the movie has long stretches where nothing happens the only tension comes from the audience sprinting for the exits. Based on the 1836 standoff that led to the independence of Texas, The Alamo begins with Davy Crockett (Billy Bob Thornton), James Bowie (Jason Patric) and William Travis (Patrick Wilson) all arriving at the Alamo days before Santa Annas troops surrounded the abandoned mission-turned-military fort. With Santa Anna and his troops lurking on the outside, the initial strategy is simple hold out until help arrives. But eventually the men come to realize that no one is coming, and doom and despair set in. The biggest problem with The Alamo is that Leslie Bohem, Stephen Gaghan and Hancocks screenplay is basically a lot of scenes in which the characters sit around discussing what to do next. Eventually, the film falls into a monotonous cycle of talking, waiting and talking about waiting. For a film that seemed intent on advertising its action sequences, moviegoers will be disappointed to learn that all the action is back-ended in the films final 30 minutes. Until then, about the only action you get is when Hancock (who also served as the director after Ron Howard backed out) shows the sun rising and setting. The lull in action only magnifies that most everybody in the film looks like a movie star playing dress-up. Thornton is probably the most entertaining, even though he seems to be channeling his character from Bad Santa, while Wilson is the only person who seems as if he belongs in The Alamo. Dennis Quaid suffers the most, playing Sam Houston kind of like he was the 19th century version of Jerry Lee Lewis. Perhaps its a good thing that Quaid isnt in the film much. It all adds up to a cinematic misfire of historically epic proportions. Dollar dandy of the weekThis weeks dollar dandy is the ghoulishly fun Dawn of the Dead (B-), the clever remake of the George Romero classic. Dawn of the Dead begins with a plague that allows the undead to walk the earth as bloodthirsty zombies. A small group of survivors, led by a nurse (Sarah Polley) and a police officer (Ving Rhames), take refuge in an abandoned mall but soon realize that no place is safe. The material is familiar, but to the actors and director Zack Snyders credit, it zips along at a breezy pace. Polley has proven to be an actress on the verge of stardom in films like The Sweet Hereafter and Go, so its nice to see her in a role that should get her some national attention. Rhames can make even the worst of films mildly interesting with his presence, so its no surprise hes effective here. Dawn of the Dead gets bonus points for its incredibly warped sense of humor. There are several instances that are laugh-out-loud funny such as the scene where Snyder uses a lounge-lizard cover version of Disturbeds Down with the Sickness during a musical montage. Its moments like that that separate this Dawn from the rest of the horror pack. Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700