Blu Ray Tuesday #14

The movie: The Eagle

The menu: We all had different things to eat so I’ll tell you what I ate. A huge hunk of birthday cake and a coke slushie. Why yes, I am on a diet starting tomorrow, how did you know?

I’ve been waiting to see this for AGES!! It’s a movie based on a much loved book that I thoroughly enjoyed. The movie did badly in the States and so was held back for a year or two before even coming to DVD in Australia. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get anyone else to watch this but Girl Roomie took one look at the front cover, saw her celeb boyfriend Channing Tatum on the front and said a big “yes” and in this household majority rules so Boy Roomie had to watch it whether he wanted to or not.

The story is a rather simple one of a young man trying to regain his family’s honour by having a glittering military career. He’s off to a fine start before being wounded and given an honourable discharge. He’s at a bit of a loss at what to do with his life but to cut a long story short, he decides to go on a secret mission with his reluctant slave, played by the kid who played Billy Elliot who has matured very, very nicely.

At the heart of the story is the friendship between the two young men. Billy Elliot is very resentful at the invasion of the Romans to his native land, not to mention his capture at their hands and being forced to become a slave. However, they realise that they share many of the same values and through saving each other’s lives, they learn to trust one another. I did have to giggle at several points during the movie because my mind took their friendship to a WHOLE other level. Although I usually complain when there is a romance "shoehorned" into an action movie, so I guess I should be grateful for one movie where there is no romance to get in the way- and I should probably not make up a romance that is not there.

I think that if I hadn’t read the book I would have been quite lost. Boy and Girl Roomie were both fiddling with their phones by the end of the movie so I don’t think the movie held their interest. Whilst it’s not a terrible movie, it’s certainly a quiet, gentle movie. I use the word ‘gentle’ despite there being several quite bloody battle scenes even though the movie's only PG-13. There are long periods in the movie where I guess you could say that nothing happens but the real enjoyment of the film is watching the two characters interact and see their friendship grow (and blossom into love- I can’t help it!!!!!!!!)

Recommended? Yes, if you like character driven movies. And attractive men. And gorgeous scenery (filmed in my beloved Scotland). The costumes and sets aren’t too shabby either.