Movies
The Alamo
Creditable retelling of an early chapter in Texas history ("As goes the Alamo, so goes Texas"), not as cumbersome as the John Wayne version of 1960, perhaps even a little cursory. Director and co-screenwriter John Lee Hancock humanizes the central figures -- Crockett, Bowie, Travis, Houston, though not the ogre-ish Santa Anna -- without demythicizing them, and without diminishing their heroism. Stage actor Patrick Wilson, with his Paul Newman puckered lips and baby-blue eyes, makes an impressive screen debut as Travis, under better control than the veterans Billy Bob Thornton (Crockett), Jason Patric (Bowie), and Dennis Quaid (Houston). 2004.
Reader Rating:
MPAA Rating: PG-13
