All movies1492: Conquest Of Paradise

Rated:

PG

Release date:

October 24, 2008

Capsule review:

If you're looking for a brilliant visual representation of the 15th century, this Ridley Scott film capably fills the bill. That's not the problem (no one's ever questioned Scott's visual abilities). But if you're hoping to find an original plot and well-drawn characters, forget it: the screenplay (by Roselyne Bosch) that Scott works from could have been used for any second-rate television miniseries. Scott and Bosch take pains to show us that Volumbus wasn't responsible for the bloodshed that his later expeditions imported to the New World. Instead, being a common man himself, the intrepid Italian navigator was done in by the noble born. Even if we don't accept this characterization, and many don't, nothing excuses the banal dialogue that accompanies cliche scenes (eg., Sigourney Weaver's one-dimensional Isabella agreeing to finance Columbus after he compliments her, yeah, right). Gerard Depardieu is lost as Columbus, but then almost anyone would be, especially a Frenchman playing an Italian living in Spain and speaking in English. When the bad guys, such as Armand Assante and Michael Wincott, make the biggest impression -- and the effect is unintentional -- your movie is in trouble. It's a pity that Scott never realized that.