Is there a story more famous than the war over the most beautiful woman of the ancient world? The tale of the face that launched a thousand ships aiming to reclaim her for the king of Sparta, though, is spun far off its traditional rails by director Wolfgang Petersen (The Perfect Storm, Enemy Mine) and writer David Benioff (25th Hour) into a thinly veiled contemporary psychodrama.
Focused mainly on Achilles (Brad Pitt) and Hector (Eric Bana), the two great warriors of ancient Greece, Troy sets them against each other as reluctant fighters unmoved by the ideals passed down by Homer in The Iliad. Excellent Hollywood mirrors: Achilles hones his martial prowess as his answer to the ephemeral nature of life while Hector looks to his wife and infant son for sustenance.
Achilles laughs at the allegiance demanded by King Agamemnon (a mulletted Brian Cox) and scorns the honor price demanded by Agamemnon’s brother Menelaus, Helen’s spurned husband. Hector finds strength in leading Troy’s army and peace in accepting the human frailty of his brother Paris (Orlando Bloom). When Paris cannot face death at Menelaus’ sword Hector lifts him up lovingly yet asks no quarter later when he walks out the city gates to his deathmatch. Achilles must receive Hector’s gift to reconcile this inner battle and conquer his angst.
Peter O’Toole’s Priam is well beyond an active place on the battlefield, more suited to skulking unnoticed and favoring priestly advice over the words of his sons. The gods, of course, sit on Mount Olympus seeking entertainment rather than heeding the signals priests read from birds and pigs. Hence the tragic ending to the story. Sean Bean gets a role very different from LotR’s Boromir, the political animal Odysseus (no, no mention of his ride home) who connects Agamemnon’s leadership to Achilles’ blade.
Helen’s played here by Diane Kruger, lovely enough but little more than that. She’s easily outperformed by Rose Byrne as Briseis, the Trojan princess who wins Achilles’ heart, and Saffron Burrows as Hector’s wife Andromache. I may be biased–both are more attractive in my eyes–but they seem more at ease with the dialog and direction.
Petersen and Benioff are the real villains of the piece. While no one would greenlight a 1950s Cecil DeMille bland, smooth costume epic these days, the pendulum’s swung too far the other way. Between computers, high def cameras and access to suitable locations anywhere, filmmakers can deliver stunning visuals and any angles on the action desired but this need to explore every major character’s psychological landscape crowds every movie into the same narrow space:
Troy != Gladiator != Kingdom of Heaven != Braveheart != Cold Mountain != Saving Private Ryan != Minority Report.
Fortunately they haven’t ruined this movie and though it could have been better I still can say:
recommended
BillSaysThis 
