The lights dimmed, the crowd hushed, the screen flickered, and through the mist came a wondrously blue and purple (albeit short) credit role. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and I shivered.

Unfortunately, Alexander eventually began. The opening scene set the stage for the rest of the film: long, almost incoherent monologues dispersed between gut-wrenchingly violent battle scenes. The movie Alexander follows Alexander the Great from boyhood to death, as told to scribes by Ptolemy (expertly portrayed by Anthony Hopkins). Some of the story is from accredited historical knowledge, but some was added by creative license. Stone's depiction of Alexander's death from apparent poisoning is one of those creative items thrown into the film. It is generally accepted that Alexander died from some disease, like Malaria or Syphilis.

The first thing that one might notice in the film is a strong sexual tension between Alexander and just about every other character in the film. When I say every other character, I mean it. After Ptolemy's opening monologue, we are introduced to Alexander in bed with his mother, Olympias (surprisingly well played by Angelina Jolie) as she plays with snakes. There are times when I could swear the camera is going to pan out leaving Alexander and Olympias locked in a passionate kiss. From there, we are introduced to Alexander's homosexual side with a exceedingly long scene displaying young boys grappling in wrestling matches. This sexual tension, both heterosexual and homosexual, is a constant thread throughout the entire film. It is innocuous at times, and downright annoying at others. Ever present is the feeling that at just about any moment, the actors will engage in something overtly sexual, and the camera will pan to a shot of something clich