Movie Review: The Eagle

Have you ever gone to a unique restaurant that was so good, you wanted to scream it from the mountaintops-and then realized that your friends hated that style or ethnic cuisine? Have you ever heard an awesome album, but can't share it with your partner because they hate pop music?

This is my current dilemma. I saw a really bold movie just this past weekend, and it was delicious, a rare treat. And I know no one would go see it. It was called The Eagle, and I only came across it due to it's Irish and Celtic overtones.

It even stars Channing Tatum. And he's acting. He's shirtless, something about his contract, I'm sure, but he's asleep and he has a blanket over him. So there's that negative, if that turned your crank. But, without the nods to his pecs, he was forced to act and, you know what, if he keeps picking titles like this, he might actually have something to go on. In this tale, he plays a Roman solider, a man who's father died in the vast wilderness of Britian.

Stop laughing. around 100AD, when this story takes place, England, Scotland, and Wales were considered untameable by the Roman Empire. So much so, Roman Emperor Hadrian built a wall dividing the country (parts still stand today) so that no Roman would venture out and be killed by those crazy Britons and Celts.

See why I was interested?

Those beserker Brits basically used guerilla tactics and the Romans were ill suited to fight such random attacks. And they killed Marcus'(Tatum's character) father and stole the family standard, a large golden Eagle emblem.  Determined to get it back, he requests to be stationed at a nearby fort and is mortally wounded when those wilders attack. He's carted back to Rome and begins to heal himself. He encounters a Briton slave, played by the completely underused Jaime Bell-and when I say underused, I mean, this kid needs to be in more movies, he's magnetic-a saves his life in a gladiator ring. Here's the tic, and it defines the movie. Does Marcus jump into the ring to save this young man and there's a huge fight scene? No. He encourages the audience to vote to let the man live.

Whoa. Reality-ish.

In fact, there's no love story. Okay, well, maybe Marcus dabbled with his slave, Erca, a bit, but it's not shown at all. In fact, there's not forced love story at all-there are no women at all in this movie. There's not one cliche, one predictable moment, not one soaring piece of music to cue us in on how we are to be feeling. Nothing is fabricated. This movie is more like it was in Rome than Russell Crowe's Gladiator ever was.

And that's why it was good. Marcus heals and uses his slave as a translator into the wilds to see if he can ge back his family's standard. In the process, he encounters the Celts of old.  They were tribal, vicious, not yet used to farming, and violent, as well as, unorganized. As the two men encounter more and more, Erca translaning the Gaelic more and more, we take the journey with them and feel the pulse of a countryside that has danger.

But not like in a horror movie or a suspense film. This is high drama and it works on a different level, as if we're watching a docudrama.

And, by now, you could see why I liked it.

And why it would be terrible for the masses in any form. Is it Oscar material? Not really. Doesn't have that scope. Everything is in poor light, costumes are muted and dirty, and the script is novel but not particularly creative in the language department.

So, like, I saw this great movie this weekend that I really enjoyed. But I doubt anyone really will ever know.

Shucks.

Peace,
Roo