The Alamo   

Sam Houston: Dennis Quaid

David Crockett: Billy Bob Thornton

James Bowie: Jason Patric

William Travis: Patrick Wilson

Santa Anna: Emilio Echevarria

Juan Seguin: Jordi Molla

Directed by John Lee Hancock

Written by Leslie Bohem and Stephen Gaghan and John Lee Hancock

First, let me start by saying that Billy Bob Thornton does an excellent job as Davy Crockett.  The congressman from Tennessee who became a reluctant hero in the history of Texas.  The man who became a legend thanks mainly to myth and folklore eventually became the hero he was portrayed as.  Crockett came to Texas because of his belief that all the fighting was over.  He is, of course, wrong, chose to stay, and wrote himself into history. 

Crockett serves as the emotional centerpiece to The Alamo, and Thornton lends the right notes of each characteristic in a fully realized performance.  Crockett provides wit and entertainment for the men and conveys the horrors of war through past experiences fighting Indians and current ones during the thirteen day siege.  There is an excellent scene of Crockett relaying a story of an Indian battle he was involved in when he was young, and another where he is face-to-face with a young, dying Mexican soldier. 

The rest of the cast isn't quite as inspired as Thornton, but they do a great job of filling out the story.  Dennis Quaid and Jason Patric do nice jobs as the stubborn Sam Houston and the tough but sick James Bowie, respectively.  Patrick Wilson is a little wooden as the unpopular Travis, but I'm not so sure that this wasn't close to his actual demeanor.  He was one of the only true soldiers in the group, and his letter to Houston still stands as one of the great messages of defiance in history.  Emilio Echevarria shines as Santa Anna, portraying him as cocky and blustery but, also, foolish and short-sighted.

I spend so much time on the casting because I think that it is what makes this movie work well.  Each actor is able to fully inhabit and flesh out his character.  This, along with the writing, creates wonderful character development as we learn about these men and nicely sets up the final sequences.  These attributes make up for the pedestrian direction by John Lee Hancock.  He too often inserts montages of scenery or images that don't add anything to the story.  He also chooses to use quaint homilies over gritty realism in some places, and the movie suffers a little because of it. 

Some people have complained that Sam Houston's victory over Santa Anna at San Jacinto feels tacked on to provide a happier ending.  This is utter nonsense.  The importance of the Alamo is its effect on the rest of the Texas army.  It was a form of inspiration and enabled the army to form and prepare for the ultimate victory.  Without this final conquest, the historical significance of the Alamo would not be the same, and the film rightly includes the culmination of the fight for independence. 

On a final note, there is some controversy behind the story of the Alamo.  People question the true fate of the men who fought there, such as whether or not they really fought to the last man. And the reasons for the fight for independence were not merely for freedom, but freedom to own slaves.  Sure, slavery is a reprehensible thing, but it is a lot easier to judge people after 170 years.  Was it foolish and ill-sighted to try to take on the entire Mexican army for freedom and slavery?  Probably.  Does it make the men of the Alamo any less heroic?  Of course not.  For me, the battle cry of "Remember the Alamo" will always hold a special place in my heart, and this film does a fine job of presenting and preserving the Alamo's legacy.