I've been intrigued with Alexander even since the first trailer hit the theatrical screen despite being a bit leery of Oliver Stone's ability to pull off an epic portrayal. But Stone did a credible biopic with Nixon and thoroughly compiled conspiracy theories in JFK, so he's demonstrated an ability to orchestrate interesting 3-hour treatments of historical figures even when the material doesn't appeal to a universal audience. Surely Alexander the Great provides a wealth of material to mine for compelling drama—a complex military genius with ambiguous sexuality whose real life exploits surpass the legendary Achilles, who served as Alexander's main inspiration. Only an inept Richard Burton vehicle had ever attempted to capture Alexander's life previously, so 2004 seemed like an ideal time for the definitive treatment—the year of numerous biopics and a credible epic in Troy.

Alas, Alexander the Great will have to wait for another time and another director before justice can fully be achieved. Disappointing since merely an adequate presentation is often sufficient for Oscar glory—take Attenborough's mediocre Gandhi, for instance. Should Stone's biopic find its way into Oscar's Best Picture nominees, then we are in for a very long December.

Not that Stone doesn't capture some great moments in Alexander—he does and his film far surpasses the original 1956 film, but that's not much of an endorsement. Stone is able to bring his film in at just under 3 hours, but only by incorporating incessant voice over summaries by Ptolemy (Anthony Hopkins) to skip over vast numbers of battles, campaigns, oracle consultations, brutal executions, etc. The historical Alexander was quite a mixed bag, sparking speculation that the warrior hero might have been psychotic, but Stone only brushes aside this aspect in a sentence when Ptolemy dismisses stories about Alexander's alleged "tyranny." A later sequence displaying the executed bodies of disloyal officers is again explained through Ptolemy's voiceover as something any general would have done, and only provides a glimpse of much more extensive bloody executions Alexander ordered that remain unseen—like the slaughter of the entire population of Thebes, for instance.

Excessive use of voiceover is often a sign of lazy screenwriting, but here it is probably more indicative of Stone's desire to somehow cover "all" of Alexander's 33 years in some fashion since the studio would never agree to finance an extended trilogy of films for this project (History geeks are far less plentiful than Tolkien geeks). Whittling Alexander's life down to fashion a dramatic script is the Herculean labor that Stone and his screenwriting team of Christopher Kyle (K-19: The Widowmaker) and Laeta Kalogridis undertake. Kalogridis, whose only previous writing credit is the "Birds of Prey" television series, is likely behind the ever present eagle that teams with Ptolemy to hold the plot together and additionally supply overhead views of the battlefield and remind us of the hero's godlike qualities and lineage. Despite Stone's noble goal, the resulting screenplay still proves unwieldy and will bore all but the most ardent world history student.

While the bookend devise of dramatizing Alexander's death to open the film and jump cutting to old Ptolemy narrating initially works to preview Stone's canvas and provide some necessary historical background, he overworks the technique to the point of tedium. Artistry does require pruning and discipline, so leaving out all but Alexander's two most significant battles in favor of posing questions about Alexander's enigmatic relationship with his father and mother, probing his world view, and ambiguously presenting his death all make sense. However, the threads too often get lost in the densely detailed narrative fabric while certain themes, like the ones connected to Alexander's clinging and ambitious mother Olympia (Angelina Jolie), are repetitiously hammered to the point of exhaustion.

To his credit, Stone doesn't shy away from Alexander's sexuality. Historical accounts all point towards his probable lifelong homosexual relationship with Hephaestion and Greek culture itself was extremely tolerant and even promoted homosexual behavior. Close friends as young boys, Alexander and Hephaestion grow inseparable and fall in love as adolescents. As young men, Alexander (Colin Farrell) and Hephaestion blatantly remain butch lovers—but don't expect explicit erotic scenes when they are on screen together. Like Achilles and Patroclus, theirs is a pure idealized love of the strongest kind, as Aristotle (Christopher Plummer) has previously alluded to. Another more effeminate servant satisfies Alexander's bodily needs (again, off-screen).

The film does contain epic charms. The set designs and art direction are often stunning, particularly in Babylon, and Alexander's triumphant battle against King Darius is well staged. Military strategists have long marveled at Alexander's extraordinary courage and genius demonstrated this famous battle of Gaugamela, and Stone draws heavily from the many volumes describing it. Greatly outmanned 40,000 troops to 220,000, Alexander determines that their one chance rests with killing the Persian king since his centralized troops would then scatter, so Stone shows the pre-battle strategy with models as Alexander explains and exhorts his leaders to hold firm. On the day of battle, Alexander illustrates the qualities that made his army fight so passionately—the personal touches to individuals, a " Braveheart" styled inspirational speech, and Alexander's hands on leadership philosophy of diving headlong into battle himself. Stone also showcases Alexander's famous phalanx formation and strategy very effectively here, all enhanced by Vangelis' synchronized drumbeats, rhythms, and melodies.

Additionally the film includes some fine "small" dramatic moments that also illustrate Stone's attention to historical detail. One that comes to mind occurs when macho King Pillip (Val Kilmer) declares a black stallion too wild to ride and orders its handler to sell the horse. Instantly 12-year old Alexander (Connor Paolo in a fine younger personification of Colin Farrell) steps forward to ride the maverick horse destined to be his favorite mount, Bucephalas. Having prepared us with Alexander's association with Zeus and Apollo and with Phillip's exhortations to act boldly without fear, young Alexander's triumph affirms his parentage without irritating didactic narration—establishing his mythological roots along with his strength of character that become trademarks of his future military exploits. The young boy also demonstrates his keen understanding of the horse, which parallels his instinct for gaining loyalty from human comrades.

Unfortunately, these moments are fleeting and are overwhelmed by the tangled mosaic that the main emotion experienced at the end of its 173 minute running time is relief. Alexander definitely has its moments, but it leaves a huge opportunity for Baz Luhrmann to create the definitive biopic about the legendary hero with his proposed 2006 production with rejected lead actor, Leonardo DiCaprio (Stone thought him "too soft"). It's not the acting that sinks Stone's epic, however. Stone dooms his project from the beginning from within his own nature—his headstrong insistence of mangling history by including far too much detail while simultaneously preaching about the importance of Alexander's vision. Previously, Stone sought to "teach" us the "truth" of the sixties; he now mines ancient history for similar confirmations.

I give credit to Stone for recreating great interest in Alexander. He certainly inspired me to watch three documentaries about the subject as well as the exceptionally weak Richard Burton drama, so I am now far more well versed Alexander's historical lore than ever before. If your main aim is to learn about the historical figure, you will find that the National Geographic documentary offers a far more engaging picture while packing in many more details in a mere 60 minutes. I find it extremely ironic that a low budget educational production that relies on academic talking heads, Greek statues and mosaics, graphics, and occasional historical recreations is much more memorable and entertaining than Stone's bloated project.