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Braveheart* warriors at home locker rooms of yoreinREVIEW: Mel’s bloody medieval Scottish adventure is easy to watch but hard tor* *swallow.By HENRY SHEEHANThe Orange County RegisterHistory takes a back seat to juvenile braggadocio in “Braveheart,” a swashbuckling version of the life of the medieval Scottish national hero William Wallace.Directed by and starring Mel Gibson, the movie supposes that Wallace, a commoner, took on his historical role when he became enraged over the murder of his wife by a magistrate of the occupying English army.The movie, written by Randall Wallace, quickly stuffs Wallace’s mouth with highfalutin references to “freedom,” though what exactly the term would mean at that point in history never comes in for much explanation. Actually the film’s philosophy is born more of the boys locker room than the misty lowlands, encompassing everything from a cheery physicality to snickering sexuality.As a director, Gibson is, like most actors who take a turn behind the camera, too fond of himself as a performer. Most scenes in which he appears have been conceived as showcases for the benefit of his character’s heroics or charms. He is not terrific at contriving period atmosphere, and his many battle scenes are uncomfortably situated between the intimate and the epic.Yet, just as obviously, he has a fine idea of what constitutes a good show, and in its own addled way, the movie rollicks along from pitching woo to pitched battle and so on. Its three-hour running time passes easily.One warning, though: The battle scenes are the most violent'Braveheart'► Stars: Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan► Behind the scenes: Directed by Mel Gibson. Written by Randall Wallace. Produced by Gibson and Alan Ladd Jr. and Bruce Davey.► Playing: Opens today throughout Orange County► Rating: R for graphic violence, language► Grade: C plus► Running time: 2 hours, 57 minutesever for a costume picture, with an incredibly bloody assortment of severed limbs and crushed skulls dribbling across the screen. People out for a “nice” period film are likely to be jolted out of their seats.For such a long picture, it has a remarkably simple plot. We first see Wallace as a child, scarred by the sight of Scottish nobles hanged by the double-crossing English King Edward I, whose armies proceed to occupy Scotland. William’s father dies fighting the king, but as an adult, William is determined to live a life of peace, farming the family plot and raising a family.But Edward is determined to put the squeeze on the Scottish, partly by reinstituting the English nobles’ right to claim the first night with newly married brides. To avoid the practice, Wallace marries his love, Mur-ron (Catherine McCormack), secretly. But when they both fight off an attempted rape by English soldiers, she ends up with her throat slit by the local magistrate (the film’s first bit of graphic bloodletting).Aside from Edward (played to perfection by Patrick McGoohan), Wallace also has to contend with the indigenous Scottish nobility, used to royal bribes, and schemers at the best of times. Their leader is Robert the Bruce (Angus McFayden), a man of noble aims but subject to the control of his endlessly conniving, leprous father (Ian Ban-nen). For his part, Edward has his own court schemers, notably his son Edward (Peter Hanly), the first Prince of Wales. That the young Edward was homosexual is a generally accepted historical fact; that he was a limp-wristed whiner given to wearing swishy silks is the film’s supposition, one delivered with the maximum amount of sniggering.As a balance to his son’s self-serving incompetence, Edward resorts to using his daughter-in-law, Princess Isabelle of the French royal house, as an emissary to the Scots. But the lovelorn princess (the appealing Sophie Marceau) nearly swoons at mere descriptions of Wallace; once in his presence she can barely keep her hands off him.'BRAVEHEART': Catherine McCormack and Mel Gibson take a ride.This unlikely romance perfectly embodies the film’s split personality. On the one hand, it’s a perfect example of how movie stars’ ludicrous sense of dramatic logic works: I am the star, hence any beautiful woman falls for me. But, to give the devil his due, the clinching gives the movie a touch of glamour and romance just when it needs it most. (Just for the record, the two never actually met; Wallace was already several years dead when Isabelle first landed on the British Isles.)In the end, “Braveheart” doesn’t amount to much more than theatrical chest-thumping by Gibson. He clearly knows how to put a movie together, but he is going to have to get over himself before that knowledge does anyone any good.
Newspaper Details
Santa Ana Orange County Register
Santa Ana, California, US
Wed, May 24, 1995
Page 84
Full Page
Clipped by
Rotten T.
USA 16 Nov 2022
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