Troy   
 

Achilles: Brad Pitt

Hector: Eric Bana

Paris: Orlando Bloom

Helen: Diane Kruger

Priam: Peter O'Toole

Agamemnon: Brian Cox

Odysseus: Sean Bean

 

 

Directed by Wolfgang Petersen

 

Screenplay by David Benioff

 

Based on Homer's The Iliad
I read, and immensely enjoyed, The Odyssey when I was in middle school, but my knowledge of the source material for this film includes only that which I have absorbed over time.  Troy, Wolfgang Petersen's retelling of Homer's epic The Iliad, hits all the major plot points that everyone already knows.  Fortunately, it, also, brings to life these wonderful characters that have only existed for so long in our imaginations.  

The story is familiar enough.  Paris falls in love with Helen, Menelaus' wife, while he and his brother Hector are in Greece to secure peace.  He whisks her off to Troy, upsetting Menelaus and giving his brother Agamemnon reason to start a war.  Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, is truly the "face that launched a thousand ships," as the camera draws back to show the huge Greek armada on its way to Troy.  Achilles is the famed Greek warrior who Agamemnon despises, but realizes he needs for victory.

The story is obviously an epic with its many characters and the important and cataclysmic consequences of each of their actions, and Troy manages to convey everything well without ever feeling convoluted.  This is due in large part to the fine acting put in by the ensemble cast.  Brad Pitt is the star here, and as Achilles, he has the largest and meatiest role.  However, the rest of the cast gives good performances to make it all come together.  Eric Bana as Hector and Peter O'Toole as Priam, the king of Troy, shine the brightest of these excellent supporting players.

This isn't Pitt's best performance.  A lot of his dialogue doesn't always sound convincing coming out of his mouth.  But he does bring a nice vulnerability to Achilles to go along with all the intensity.  Troy does struggle to find a villain.  Achilles' clash with Agamemnon, the ruthless leader of Greece, is as close as the movie comes to creating a foe.  But, Agamemnon is just portrayed as a blowhard set on destroying Troy.  Not necessarily the evil villain who deserves his comeuppance.   

Troy is, in essence, an old movie that reaches back to Spartacus and Ben-Hur for inspiration.  Not in substance or content, necessarily, but in style.  This movie is on a grander scale than most, with a huge cast, exquisite sets, and an interesting story.  Adding to the old-movie feel, Petersen uses a lot of close-ups and reaction shots to convey every major character's feeling about each occurrence right along with sweeping panoramas to express the immensity of the story.

Some of the dialogue is stilted, and James Horner's score is absolutely dreadful, but this movie has great action sequences and does a nice job creating emotion with the relationships that come together and are torn apart by the war.  The final attack with the Trojan Horse and the siege within the walls of Troy is an inspired scene and satisfying payoff after more than two hours.

The themes of The Iliad are all touched on in this film.  While there are certain liberties taken in updating the story, the important aspects are not sacrificed for simple eye candy.  Ultimately, this is where Troy succeeds a little better than most films attempting something on a similar scale.