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 1 of 4

The Alamo Our rating: Your rating: 1 2 3 4 Your Comments: see all MPAA rating: PG-13 (for sustained intense battle sequences) Theater release: April 09, 2004 by Touchstone Pictures Directed by: John Lee Hancock Runtime: 2 hours 15 minutes Cast: Dennis Quaid (Gen. Sam Houston), Billy Bob Thornton (Davy Crockett), Jason Patric (James Bowie), Patrick Wilson (Col. William Barrett Travis), Emilio Echevarría (Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna) Related: Talk About It/Family Corner

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The story of The Alamo is the stuff of American legend, and the filmmakers behind this new adaptation assume audiences are familiar with the outcome of the historical siege. In the first few minutes of the film, we learn that everyone at The Alamo—nearly 200 men—was killed by the Mexican army, led by the ruthless General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (Emilio Echevarría), "The Napoleon of the West." From there, General Sam Houston (Dennis Quaid) reflects on the events and the tale is told in flashback.

Located at a once major crossroads in San Antonio, Texas, The Alamo was not exactly a structure of significant strategic value. It was originally built as a mission before being converted into a fort, and was conceded back and forth between the Mexicans and Texans before the infamous siege in 1836. Santa Anna's forces were staved for 13 days before slaughtering the brave troops at The Alamo, led by three American legends: Col. William Barrett Travis (Patrick Wilson), James Bowie (Jason Patric), and folk hero/congressman Davy Crockett (Billy Bob Thornton).

The Alamo has been told many times before—most notably the 1960 John Wayne film of the same name and Disney's 1954 classic, Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier—and it's a familiar scenario used in other stories (for example, the Battle of Helm's Deep in The Lord of the Rings). It benefits from historical grounding, though it nonetheless begs the question of why it needs to be told once again. While many hate to admit it, some classic stories are in sore need of a renovation—or at least a fresh coat of paint for a new generation. The real question then is whether or not this particular Alamo is worth remembering.

Dennis Quaid as Gen. Sam Houston

Admittedly, my expectations were low going in. It's rarely a good sign when a movie is delayed from a prime, Oscar–hopeful Christmas release to the mid–April, pre–summer doldrums. The delay was supposedly due to director John Lee Hancock whittling down 1.4 million feet of film footage into a cohesive work. Still, the movie was originally attached to Ron Howard (who ended up producing) and Russell Crowe as Sam Houston. Instead, the studio opted for a smaller budget and a director whose only other significant work was 2002's The Rookie—which also starred Quaid.

Aside from his previous work with Quaid, Hancock doesn't initially seem like the ideal man to helm this project, and things do seem a bit shaky for the first twenty minutes of The Alamo. The story jumps in too quickly without properly introducing the leads, relying instead on clichéd dialogue and generic characterizations. Houston is portrayed as an oft–drunk idealist, desperate to enlist soldiers in the still developing Texas army. Crockett is ever the polite Southerner attending a play based on his life. Bowie is reduced to a grumpy drunk who can't go for a minute without whipping out the knife for which he's famous.

Whether or not these characterizations are accurate is beside the point. This movie absolutely fails at framing the expository events in historical and political context. Travis, Bowie, and Crockett are sent to The Alamo. Why? Who can say, since the film devotes so little time to acquaint us with each man. Audiences will be unanimously grateful that The Alamo is appropriately closer to 2 hours instead of a sprawling 3–hour epic like Pearl Harbor or Gods and Generals, but it sorely needs an extra 20 minutes of exposition.

Preparing for battle

It does, however, bring us to the action more quickly, with Santa Anna's troops surrounding the fortress before you know it. Here's where the film begins to come alive, and it's clear that this is where the filmmakers want to take us; indeed, a sad foreshadowing seems to hang over the film before The Alamo is even referenced. Hancock clearly enjoys staging a battle scene and does an admirable job with the fighting. He even impressively one–ups the famed money shot of the falling bomb from Pearl Harbor with a point–of–view camera that follows the trajectory of a cannonball from cannon to target.

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