The Alamo

Released 2004
Stars Dennis Quaid, Billy Bob Thornton, Jason Patric, Patrick Wilson, Emilio Echevarría, Jordi Mollà
Directed by John Lee Hancock

The good news first: The Alamo is probably the most historically accurate depiction yet to reach the screen of the famous siege. The bad news is that "historically accurate" does not necessarily translate into "dramatically successful." Emotionally inert and poorly paced, The Alamo transforms one of Texas' best-known events into an uninvolving bore. And, to add a dose of irony to the proceedings, the most compelling elements of the film are those that transpire away from the Alamo.

The film opens in February 1836, with the Texas Revolution against Mexico well underway. Following about 30 minutes of establishing material introducing the main characters - General Sam Houston (Dennis Quaid), American legend Davy Crockett (Billy Bob Thornton), knife-happy James Bowie (Jason Patric), and buttoned-down regular army colonel William Barrett Travis (Patrick Wilson) - the siege of the Alamo by the troops of Santa Anna (Emilio Echevarría) begins. 75 minutes later, it's over, and nearly everyone within is dead. Santa Anna's army then pursues Houston across Texas. The film concludes with the decisive battle at San Jacinto and the capture of Santa Anna.

Summary by James Berardinelli

I have a feeling there was a much better edit of this movie that we'll probably never see, but the version they released meandered with no real purpose until its ending. I had no sense of the history involving the war between the Texians and Santa Anna, so I had no idea what the underlying conflict was all about. It would have helped me if they had replaced some of the padding and dead space with a little more exposition, and if they had given some indication of how long the siege lasted (two weeks) before the final attack. The film gave me a sense of what it was like to be there, but I had no sense of what was really happening.

There were a couple of things I did like, and one was Billy Bob Thornton's portrayal of Davy Crockett as a man uncomfortable with his legend but understanding the need to live up to it. The other was the explanation of how Sam Houston outfoxed the vainglorious peacock, Santa Anna. I love when military men look to history to learn how to defeat a superior force, and Sam Houston didn't just defeat Santa Anna--he crushed him. It's too bad the movie rushes this part of the film, because it was the most interesting part of it. --Bill Alward, October 23, 2004