What can I say? This film is Brokeback set in 2nd Century Roman Britain.
Ah - I should have guessed. Romans. Men. Fighting.
I couldn't figure out whether there's gay subtext, or that it's completely unintentional. I just don't care. Don't get me wrong, it's a watchable film - we watched right to the end. (That doesn't qualify a film as good I know). Good fighting scenes, and the atmosphere and costumes were impressive.
The plot: Centurion who is extra specially brave and skilled wants to re-capture the Eagle standard that his father lost in Scotland. He navigates through the Highlands with the help of a slave who owes him (Jamie Bell). The plot just seemed about trying to regain a totem of his masculinity that was lost with his father's failure. This film just didn't know what it wanted to be or what it wanted to say.
What we couldn't figure out - and eventually why the homoeroticism became more interesting - was why the allegiances of the two main characters seemed so hard to believe. Their motivation just didn't ring true.
Plus PLUS... Why in the name of buggery f*ck was Mark Strong speaking in a really heavy New York Accent? It was really bizarre and jarring.
It could and should have been a better film - it had the potential for greater things and finer feelings.
Instead, we kept wondering when Tatum grab Jamie's more slender frame and give him a nice kiss.
There were moments...
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