4 stars out of 5
Going in, I readily admit I didn’t know very much about Napoleon, besides that he was a military guy who had a Napoleon complex. So I learned an awful lot from watching this film. But beyond just that, as the younger dude who was the only other person staying till the end of the credits said to me, “That was a really good movie!”
I wasn’t a guaranteed attendee, with my general aversion to both pre-20th-century period pieces and to war films. But the trailer was pretty compelling, and Joaquin Phoenix is a reliably strong screen presence. So there I was, in the theater seat. As soon as the movie began, I realized I wasn’t paying attention to the scene-setting explanatory text on-screen, and worried, “Oh no, I’m screwed, I’ll never understand any of this.” But I hung in there, and picked up that it was the end of the 18th century, the French Revolution, royalty was overthrown, and Napoleon Bonaparte quickly rises through the ranks of the military.
Along the way he meets Josephine (actress Vanessa Kirby), and it’s their codependent relationship that is true through-line of this film. Love and war is a recipe for melodrama but legendary director Ridley Scott has a deft hand here, and there’s a looseness and frequent humor to his telling that I found quite appealing. Bonaparte is a brilliant commander on the battlefield and yet is totally vexed by Josephine. He struggles to control her but alas cannot. Phoenix has a field day with this role, strutting, whimpering, pacing, affectionate, frustrated, immature. And he loves wielding that crazy hat. As for Kirby, though she hasn’t particularly impressed me in the last two Mission: Impossible flicks (as the White Widow), here she holds her own with the mercurial Phoenix, taming him, dominating, rolling her eyes.
The movie literally covers a lot of ground — battle to battle to battle — through the early decades of the 19th century. Despite a running time over 2.5 hours, the film does seem to be skipping around through Nap’s greatest hits. (My pal Clarke surmised that the less history you know watching this — hey that’s me! — the more you’ll actually appreciate the film.) Even I noticed part of the story that wasn’t followed up on. And though visually very impressive and sweeping throughout, there was one “troops advancing” sequence that looked like the sort of stock footage Monty Python would’ve used. Minor gripes, though.
If you like impressively constructed and performed films with cannons booming (plus horses and muskets and bayonets and hats), or if you’ve had that one lover who you just couldn’t quit, who haunts you still, march on the double to Le Cineplex for Napoleon.
Jack Silbert, curator