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Remember back in spring of '36 (1836) there were a few good men holed up in a fort that wasn't really a fort but they were determined to turn back the evil Mexican dictator General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (Emilio Echevarria). We can't remember the name The Alamo represented the cry for Texas independence and was passionately
defended by a hodgepodge of men who came together for 13 days to battle
against thousands. Although it was ultimately a massacre (hope we didn't
give anything away there...), they were later avenged by Sam Houston (Dennis
Quaid) and Santa Anna was repelled.
Don't forget that the Alamo had been under siege before so they knew the strengths and weakness - but you can only be as good as the men in charge. At the beginning there is a power struggle between Lt. Col. William Travis (Patrick Wilson) and James Bowie (Jason Patric), a drunk with a big knife, as to who should be commanding this mixed group. Then you add in larger than life heroes like David Crockett (Billy Bob Thornton) and allegiances are torn.
Billy Bob Thornton is wonderful and the fiddler on the roof re-enactment is very nice and he provides some much-needed comedic relief. His Davy David Crockett hero moments are great, especially his brilliant surrender speech - he dies well (hope that wasn't another give away).
Patrick Wilson gives a resounding rally round the troops boys speech and
his character has a great redemption story to go from a complete wanker
to when he picks up a live cannon ball and earns respect instead of demanding
it - cliché but effective.
Jason Patric has nothing to work with - there's a war on, but he's out sick that day. That's fine, but then don't spend 20 minutes on him lying in bed, coughing and fantasizing about his lost wife. It adds nothing to the movie, except to show off his big knife.
It would be Un-Texan to say anything bad, but... Do we have to suffer through
all 13 days, or all 18 minutes of the final battle? After the slaughter,
it takes too long to get to the "remember the Alamo" speech.
It takes too long for everything; you get great dramatic moments, but it's
constantly - wait for it, wait for it, okay here's a good one, now wait...
This is our dilemma, the movie deserves to be seen on the big screen in order to get the full visual and dramatic impact, however, it's not good enough to want to pay full price. If you're going to see it, catch a matinee.
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