These fatal flaws are further hindered by Farrell’s acting, which is filled with boy-like screams and hesitant lines that translate into a melodramatic, unconvincing show.  Stone tries to balance our opinion of the commander by having Anthony Hopkins, as his retired general and, later, historian over the great Library of Alexander, pontificate in annoying, exalted voiceovers scattered throughout the film.  That dialogue, like Ptolemy’s insistence that Alexander was “the freest man I’ve ever known” whose failures “towered over other men’s successes,” is so clichéd that even Hopkins can’t overcome it.

By far, the best actor in the film is Angelina Jolie.  As the embittered, estranged wife of Phillip and mother to Alexander, she resorts to conniving to protect herself from Phillip’s ambitions, hissing advice to her son even as her pet snakes slither around her ankles.  We don’t even mind that she appears to be the same age as her son (she’s just one year older than Farrell), because she’s so bewitching.  Watching her, one can’t help but recall Bette Davis.

As he did in “JFK,” Stone once again explores a conspiracy theory about Alexander’s death.  We are led to believe that both he and Hephaistion were poisoned, and that Ptolemy covered it up by dictating revisionist history to the scribes.  Unlike the death of Kennedy, however, which was shrouded in mystery, this historical hypothesis has little evidence.  According to Plutarch’s account, Alexander died from the effects of putrid water.  But then again, his men had grown battle-weary, having witnessed a 75 percent casualty rate and been gone from home for a decade, so Stone’s guess is as good as any.

“In his presence, in the light of Apollo, we were better than ourselves,” states Hopkins, in one of his many narrations.  Sadly, however, this Alexander isn’t nearly as good, or remotely as interesting, as the real one.  A disappointment, to be sure.
 
AUDIENCE:  Adults only.

OBJECTIONABLE CONTENT:

• Drugs/Alcohol Content:    Heavy.  Characters drink wine and become drunk in several scenes.
• Language/Profanity:   Average.  Characters use words like “bastard,” “balls” and “bitch” in crude ways and swear allegiance to pagan gods (“in the name of Zeus”).
• Sexual Content/Nudity:  Extreme.  Two would-be rape scenes, one of which turns into a sexual encounter with full frontal & rear female nudity (including lingering shots of breasts) and partial male nudity.  Man refers to “the taste of a new woman.” Multiple portrayals of homosexuality where men embrace and kiss on lips, including several between main characters. In one scene, main character climbs into a bath and beckons his male slave to join him (although no overt sexuality between men is shown onscreen).
• Violence:   Extreme.  Most of the violence is war violence, but it is bloody and includes much hand-to-hand sword combat, stabbings and death. Multiple shots of dead bodies on battlefield; several executions by sword; an attempted rape between husband and wife; bull is slaughtered and blood spurts onto face while priests handles bloody organs.