Troy

The Trojan War and Homer’s Iliad formed the foundation of Western literature, but writer David Benioff and director Wolfgang Petersen make mincemeat of the old legends, confident that their target audience will never know the difference. There are impressive sets and good battle scenes, and the cast hardly can be faulted: Brad Pitt (as Achilles), Eric Bana (Hector), Orlando Bloom (Paris), Peter O#&146;Toole (Priam) and Brian Cox (Agamemnon), all are well-cast and professional. But though the movie gets off to a good start, it soon trivializes the tale by compressing an epic 10-year war down to a stubby 17 days—while stretching it out to nearly three sluggish hours. Maybe Benioff and Petersen were afraid teenagers would wail: “A 10-year war? By that time, Brad Pitt would have to be, like, 50. How creepy is that?”