# Stone Surprised by Poor Response to Epic



## ReformedWretch (Jan 6, 2005)

LONDON - Director Oliver Stone said he was surprised by the critical reaction to his historical epic "Alexander" _ and put the blame on the fundamentalist morality in some parts of the United States.

Critics lambasted the film, which stars Irish actor Colin Farrell, and some conservative groups condemned Stone's depiction of the Macedonian conqueror's sexuality.

"I was quite taken aback by the controversy and fierceness of the reviews about a character we don't really know too much about," Stone told reporters in London Wednesday before the film's British premiere.

"I operate on my passion and sometimes I'm naive, I don't think about the consequences," he said.

Stone said the commercial failure of "Alexander" in the United States could be linked to "a raging fundamentalism in morality."

"From day one audiences didn't show up," he said. "They didn't even read the reviews in the South because the media was using the words, `Alex the gay.' As a result you can bet that they thought, `We're not going to see a film about a military leader that has got something wrong with him.'"

Stone, director of "Platoon," "JFK" and "Natural Born Killers," said "Alexander" was "the epic of my life."

"I'm very happy with the result and I think Colin's work is extraordinary," he said. "He's had some tough reviews but he'll ride it out."

Said Farrell: "If Oliver ever wanted to work with me again I would do it in a heartbeat."


----------



## Ivan (Jan 6, 2005)

Excuses, excuses. Is it possible he might have just made a lousy movie?


----------



## jfschultz (Jan 6, 2005)

> _Originally posted by houseparent_
> "I was quite taken aback by the controversy and fierceness of the reviews *about a character we don't really know too much about*," Stone told reporters in London Wednesday before the film's British premiere.



So there was no basis in what is known of Alexcander to prove that he was gay.

Stone But then with the left coast to complain is just


----------



## LadyFlynt (Jan 6, 2005)

Bummer and it was on my list...I love epics...but no way I believe that Alexandar was gay! ARGH!!! Why can't they just tell the story....why the garabage?!?!


----------



## Average Joey (Jan 7, 2005)

This is a good reason we need to not be close friends with others of the same sex.If they discover our bodies and writings we made 2,000 years from now.They will assume we were all homosexuals.


----------



## Ivan (Jan 7, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Average Joey_
> This is a good reason we need to not be close friends with others of the same sex.If they discover our bodies and writings we made 2,000 years from now.They will assume we were all homosexuals.



Only if there is an extreme drop in the rate of population growth!


----------

