The Alamo (2004)
History is given the Disney treatment
in "The Alamo" and comes up bloodless, passionless
and yet oddly intentionally humorous. After all, the
battle that took place at the infamous fort in San
Antonio over a hundred years ago was one of the bloodiest
massacres ever to occur on American soil. The fact
that this film, with its PG-13 approach to history,
tries to sugarcoat the event certainly doesn't help
one to become a proponent of it. Still, it's a mildly
pleasant and entertaining diversion.
Yes, even with all its goofy moments,
convoluted character exposition and bad storytelling,
the film cannot help but be enjoyable. The main reason
for this is, of course, Billy Bob Thornton who appears
here as Davey Crockett. Thornton has a good ole time
portraying what must be the most important figure
in American history from this time period. Although
often called upon to deliver "zingers" and one-liners
that are out of the realm of Crockett's possible language,
Thornton somehow manages to make them work and become
delightful. But truly his finest moment, and the best
one in the entire film, comes when he solemnly delivers
a story about killing and setting fire to some American
Indians at a battle. While the delivery of such a
speech seems to perhaps be an unlikely event in reality,
Thornton somehow manages to convey what must have
been the reality of Crockett's mental state when he
brings it to us. It is a captivating moment and one
that makes the entire film worthwhile.
Less successful are Jason Patrick,
who is given nearly nothing to do but get sick and
die; Patrick Wilson, who is so far out of his league
with the other well-known actors that it almost works
as a character device (Almost!) and Dennis Quaid,
who is simply laughable as Sam Houston. Quaid, who
appeared in "The Alamo" director John Lee Hancock's
other Disney outing, "The Rookie," has to present
a man who seems arrogant but ultimately wins the day
with his smarts and cunning. Arrogance Quaid can emote
but cleverness he cannot.
Filmed at enormous cost just outside
Austin in 2003, "The Alamo" has already become one
of the biggest flops of 2004. It just goes to show
what a lot of imagination can do when it is used to
supplant reality and history. This may be the most
accurate depiction of the battle at the fort that
has ever appeared on the screen but that isn't saying
much. In fact, when it comes to this interpretation,
nobody really seems to be saying much of anything.
Ultimately the battle cry of "Remember the Alamo"
will fall on deaf ears when used to evoke this film.
This rendering, while enjoyable, is also utterly forgettable.
Notes:
In English and Spanish with subtitles.
Also with Emilio Echevarria, a Mexican
novella (soap opera) star as Santa Ana as well as
author Turk Pipkin and Rance Howard.
The film was originally to be directed
by Ron Howard and star Russell Crowe. Howard dropped
out when Disney did not share his ideas about the
film's content. Some sources say Howard wanted a more
bloody and realistic depiction of the battle which
would have surely earned the film an R rating. Disney
instead opted to go with John Lee Hancock, a relatively
new director who had previously helmed the G-rated
"The Rookie" (also starring Dennis Quaid) for them.
Ron Howard is a producer.
Score by Carter Burwell.
At one time Ethan Hawke was suggested
for the role of Travis.
The film was initially going to
be released at Christmas 2003 but was pushed back
to April supposedly in order to give Hancock more
time for the post-production special effects. Rumors
abounded about poor test screenings. Some early reports
suggested that the film had no real "conflict" and
that there was no side that it was clear the audience
should root for. This seems highly unlikely since
the scenes in the film with Santa Ana are very cartoonish
and depict him quite unfavorably.
At the time the film was announced
it was purportedly going to be the most accurate depiction
of the battle at the Alamo ever filmed.
The story of the Alamo was previously
made in 1936 and again in 1960 by John Wayne.
The set was constructed at Dripping
Springs, Texas, just outside of Austin on 51 acres
of land, the biggest and most costly set even constructed
in North America to date. Some filming was also done
in Bastrop outside of Austin and in downtown Austin
at the Driskol Hotel and the Paramount Theater.
Viewed in Austin in April 2004 with
my friends Mark Brauner (who was an extra in the film),
Amanda (who has a degree in Mexican American Studies
from UT), Ryan Morris, Melissa and her husband Robert.
We could see Mark Brauner in at
least four scenes in the film. He is prominent in
one scene where two men talk while at the top of the
wall at the Alamo about an hour into the film. Mark
is directly behind them (in focus) peering at the
horizon for nearly a minute.
Mark spent several months in 2003
working on the film as an extra being paid $100 a
day. He was one of the soldiers dressed in a gray
uniform who was inside the Alamo. Mark went to training
for a few weeks before the shoot in December of 2002
where they taught him how to feign shooting a period
rifle and where they instructed him on "how to die."
Although he worked on the film for
over four months, driving nearly two hours a day (round
trip) to Dripping Springs, Texas, to be in the film,
Mark seemed to really enjoy the experience. He said
it was a fun set, relaxed and the extras were pretty
well treated. He also claimed that "the food was good."
Mark's best story from the set involves
the scene where the small group of men from Gonzales,
Texas, arrive at the Alamo and Billy Bob Thornton
delivers the line, "Let's hear it for the boys from
Gonzales." (You can see Mark in the back of a group
of soldiers in this scene). Mark said on the final
take Billy Bob surprised everyone by saying, "Let's
hear it for Jergens and Swank magazine" instead and
everyone laughed quite loudly. Apparently Thornton
likes to say those two items aloud on film (i.e. to
become an outtake) in every movie he appears in.
Amanda said that Santa Ana had nowhere
near the number of men that the film depicts. In the
film, in one statement made in dialogue, in appears
as if Santa Ana has at least 2,000 men with him. Amanda
says the number was more like 600. And while the Mexican
soldiers are depicted here as a well-oiled and smartly
dressed fighting machine, Amanda says that in reality
most of them were indigent people that the army picked
up along the way and forced to fight in the battle.
After the movie in front of the
theater we ran into our friends "The Twins," (April
and Sarah) who are visiting from Maryland and Krissa
(who lives here). Melissa and I used to work with
the twins so we spent several minutes talking in a
big group out in front of the theater. They had been
to see "The Prince and Me." Then later, Amanda, Melissa,
Robert and I went to Wan Fu and had Chinese food.
