My wife and I watched Troy this evening and I was very impressed. After reading many lukewarm reviews - and some worse, like Ebert's - I was expecting a really poor movie. Instead, I saw a film that, while not entirely faithful to the letter of The Iliad, was faithful to the spirit. I actually liked the 2 major changes in the plot - the placement and timing of Achilles' death and Agamemnon's satisfying demise. The story was well-told and well-acted, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Ebert suggests that we needed more gods to be faithful to Homer. I don't entirely disagree with that. But I've seen Clash of the Titans and it was a fine B- movie, but most of the god action plays like bad soap opera, and that's what most people would do with it. Troy didn't need it.

There were a number of fine performances, and I especially liked Peter O'Toole's King Priam of Troy. His part was small yet essential, and he made Priam more fragile and sensitive than my imagination had pictured him when reading the book. Very interesting!

Sean Bean was Odysseus in a crucial but thankless part, always second fiddle to others, but displaying the great leadership that the character had in both of the Homeric epics. Nice job!

But let's face it, Brendan Gleeson turned in the best performance as Menelaus. He was believable, whether playing a jovial host to his enemies, a loyal brother to a great man, a bitter husband to an unfaithful wife, or a fearless warrior in battle. He made Menelaus so real that, near the end of the scene in which his character fights Paris, I was so deep into the action that I actually cheered out loud when Hector killed him. This guy is great!