Trouble called TROY

TROY! It’s the block buster release thus far of the soon to be summer movie season and if you like your entertaining headlines, then this is the movie for you. A Google search for reviews of Troy, bring out some wonderfully crafted wordplays, to describe just how this movie is being received by the reviewers. Though to be fair to producer Wolfgang Petersen, the negative tones of some reviews don’t seem to be holding back the hordes from the doors of the cineplexes.

We are treated to such dramatic advisories as “Wooden Horse, Wooden acting, wouldn’t’ bother if I were you”, which hasn’t swayed the opening weekend take. Nor has the witty blurb with a google slug of As empty as the horse, “send forth a boring film to Hades” deterred folks from wandering up to the theatre to see what it is all about. Then there’s “A Graceless Greek Travesty”, I’m sure you’ll be seeing that in those newspaper ads very shortly. “Pompous, Bland and Instantly forgettable”, now that’s a review that should keep the financiers up late at night. Perhaps Simpson’s fans were fooled into attending thinking that Homer had made the big screen, when they read the review for Homer? D’oh!! Troy and Troy again advised the reader that this epic piece wowed them at Cannes, so perhaps we just want to be part of the in crowd.

Then there is the Brad factor, Brad Pitt’s participation in the recreation of the days of Troy has certainly brought out the beef in beefcake. A whole subsection of searches can find many quaint descriptions of Brad’s efforts in the drive for authenticity. "Troy Boy Brad shows his pits", would certainly appeal to a segment of the population that may have missed the Iliad in high school. In the same vein "Hollywood’s Troy Boy", celebrates all that Brad could bring to the role of Achilles, described as his greatest gamble yet in his career. You will get the drift of the movie by checking out “Troy rolls out the horse, hunks…,” which describes the prettification of Bradley.

Of course there are those that find the hidden social messages in our films and Troy is no exception. The Guardian draws parallels between the epic battles of Troy and current events in the Middle East, all drawn together nicely in apiece entitled “Troy stars speak out at the futility of War” In the “Man behind Troy” Wolfgang Petersen is described as a man that is still anti war, describing Troy to be in a similar vein as his breakthrough film Das Boot. Ian Brown of the Globe and Mail managed to draw some comparisons between the epic expanses of Troy to the ongoing nightmares in Iraq, his Lessons from Troy was an interesting exercise in connecting the dots. However, comparing Donald Rumsfeld to Achilles? Sorry one suspects that if it comes to someone taking a shirt off, Brad trumped Rummy every time.

Regardless of the scathing indictments, the venomous pens and any acerbic outbursts, it would seem that the first weekend went well, 45.6 million in ticket receipts were brought in with the first wave of moviegoers. Short of the 50 million mark that usually announces a passing grade for Hollywood, but respectable. With a large number of other blockbusters to come shortly, it may be a nervous accountant that tries to balance the 200 million dollar cost of the movie, to the accounts receivable ledger. Studio execs will want to battle the impression offered up by the Scotland on Sunday, which proclaimed, "Achilles heel is all too obvious in Trojan blockbuster". The studio PR department had better get some more mug shots of Brad’s transformation into a boy warrior with little clothing, which may help in the effort to keep the audience interested until that now vital DVD release date comes up.

Then again you may wish to just surf the net, Google has ten pages and counting of reviews and mockery, even the odd recommendation. Cartoonish Joke of a Film, Guts Glory but No heart, Travesty in a Breastplate Big Fat Greek War!They're all worth a look, good fun for hours and hours, and sleepless nights, night after night for Studio Execs