Spartacus

Directed by Stanley Kubrick, Spartacus details the larger-than-life exploits of Kirk Douglas’ title character – with the movie charting Spartacus’ journey from a slave/gladiator to the leader of a full-blown revolution. It’s clear immediately that Spartacus has little in common with the rest of Kubrick’s output, as the film, for the most part, boasts the feel of a fairly typical old-school Hollywood epic – with the movie boasting a leisurely pace, a cast that runs into the thousands, and a seriously over-the-top score. (That score, by Alex North, is often overwhelmingly grandiose and thoroughly distracting.) It is, as such, not terribly surprising that Spartacus remains unable to wholeheartedly capture the viewer’s interest for most of its palpably overlong running time, although it’s equally clear that Kubrick does a nice job of peppering the narrative with undeniably engrossing sequences. (It is, for example, impossible not to be drawn into the slave revolt that occurs early in the picture.) There’s ultimately little doubt that Spartacus is at its best when focused on Douglas’ commanding character, which ensures that the movie seriously falters when the emphasis is placed on the behind-the-scenes happenings within the Roman government (ie virtually everything involving Laurence Olivier’s Crassus is dull and momentum-killing). And although the movie spins its wheels in the buildup to its final battle, Spartacus benefits substantially from an absolutely enthralling skirmish that stands as the high point in the proceedings – to the extent that most everything that follows, which comprises an additional 40 minutes or so, is simply unable to avoid an anticlimactic feeling of superfluousness by comparison. The end result is a passable historical epic that has little in common with the rest of Kubrick’s output, and it’s ultimately telling that the film’s most engaging aspect is the sweet romance between Spartacus and Jean Simmons’ Varinia (ie the love story should absolutely not be the most compelling part of a movie of this ilk).

**1/2 out of ****