Alexander grates

Oliver Stone's Greek epic Alexander has been near universally panned following its US opening last night.

16:10 25 November 2004

Oliver Stone's Greek epic Alexander has been near universally panned following its US opening last night.

The legendary director's historical epic chronicling the life and times of the legendary military leader and King of Macedonia was dismissed as an example of "puerile writing, confused plotting and shockingly off-note performances" by the New York Times.

And while Hollywood darling Colin Farrell will only benefit from the kudos attached to such a high-profile production, he failed to raise the film above what the Los Angeles Times called an "indifferent epic" that served only as a vanity project for Stone.

However, novelist and political thinker Gore Vidal defended the director's "barrier-breaking" depiction of Alexander's well-documented, but nonetheless disputed, bisexuality.

This aspect of the film has proved its most controversial - Greek lawyers have threatened legal action over the credibility of scenes in which Alexander has an openly romantic relationship with his childhood friend and fellow warrior Hephaistion, played by Jared Leto.

Alexander is the latest in an outpouring of Roman and Greco inspired epics to come out of Hollywood since Ridley Scott's Gladiator and should be assured of success by its action scenes and large set-pieces.

But even Rolling Stone magazine, a fan of such blockbusters, was unimpressed.

"How's Alexander? Not great," the industry mag said. "Though the battles have the blood-and-sinew bravado you expect from Oliver Stone, this three-hour buttnumbathon is hamstrung by a hectoring grandiosity."