There's nothing like a hot little homoerotic sword-and-sandal epic to get the blood racing—especially in light of the record setting winter weather we've experienced this year. And The Eagle is a nicely paced variation on this film genre beloved by generations of gay men.
Based on the 1954 novel by Rosemary Sutcliff, whose series of adventure books have thrilled generations of British boys (and, I suspect, some girls, too) and adapted for the screen by Jeremy Brock, this film version of The Eagle has been kicking around for over a decade. It comes to the screen helmed by documentarian/feature director Kevin Macdonald (State of Play, The Last King of Scotland), who gives it the assured pacing of a Saturday morning serial adventure and sensibly doesn't worry much about mismatched accents or logistics.
The story follows the exploits of one Marcus Aquila (played by hunk du jour Channing Tatum), a young Roman commander sent to the no man's land that was Roman-ruled Britain in 140 A.D. On arrival at the outpost, the taciturn stickler for rules and discipline immediately orders his second-in-command, Lutorius (played by out actor Denis O'Hare), to whip the men in shape—none too soon, as it turns out. Soon the command post is under attack by a band of marauding Druids—something the quick-thinking Marcus has foreseen. Although the day is saved, Marcus sustains a leg injury that permanently puts him out of commission and he is discharged with honors.
Marcus has joined the army with one intention: To find out what happened to his father who disappeared in the northern hinterlands of Britain 20 years before, along with 5,000 men and Rome's beloved golden eagle standard—the symbol of Roman might. But instead, the now-disgruntled Marcus goes to stay with his uncle Aquila (a droll Donald Sutherland), who whiles away his time conferring with other Roman bigshots and enjoying the brutal combat in the local miniature arena. He brings along the bored nephew one day and the course of Marcus' life is immediately changed when Esca (Jamie Bell), a young male slave, is brought into the arena and refuses to fight for his life. Something about this young man's defiant attitude (or more likely, his hot little body—the slave is stripped to little more than a codpiece) speaks to Esca's base sensibilities and stirs him to convince his fellow Romans to give the "thumbs up"—thus saving Esca's life.
Marcus is a tad taken aback when his bemused uncle gifts him with Esca—assuming that Marcus wants him for illicit purposes. (This is strongly suggested rather than spoken, I hasten to add.) Esca himself is the sworn enemy of Rome but something about his new master's attitude (or more likely, his equally hot body) quells the servant's blood lust. When a local surgeon discovers that he can fix Marcus' bad leg, Esca is there to help him recover. Soon the two have hatched a plan to head north and find out what happened to Marcus' dad and, almost more importantly, the golden eagle.
Traveling north to the forbidden area, past the Hadrian Gates, these two discover that they must learn to trust each other if the fierce north tribesman (who have the habit of painting their half-naked bodies) are to be defeated. Naturally, many combat sequences are on the menu for both Marcus and Esca although, sadly—this being homoerotic and not homo physical—nothing more than an intense friendship is part of the ensuing action. (Perhaps a sequel will rectify that situation.)
Nicely shaped with plenty of nicely shaped male eye candy, The Eagle will certainly please filmgoers looking to get their fix of onscreen male testosterone satisfied.
A passel of recent home viewing film releases that fall into the classics category are worth noting, including:
—Lucky Lady (1975): Three years after her tour de force, Oscar-winning performance in 1972's Cabaret Liza Minnelli finally returned to cinemas in director Stanley Donen's attempt to recreate the screwball comedy. Minnelli teams with Gene Hackman and Burt Reynolds as a trio of inept, lascivious bootleggers (the three end up sharing a bed) during the roaring '20s who, through a series of timely coincidences, "accidentally" become successful. Gorgeously shot and dressed, although badly overacted by all three principals, the movie was an expensive flop upon release but has moments of charm here and there and gives Liza a song or two (worth checking out).
—Basil Dearden's London Underground: This four-film set from Criterion is a well-deserved homage to the little known works of British director Dearden, whose late '50s-early '60s films often tackled social problems. The movies include Victim, the bona fide 1961 gay cinema classic in which Dirk Bogarde's life is turned upside down when he is blackmailed because he is gay. Dearden's sympathetic, even-handed approach to this "sensational" topic is also found in Sapphire (1959), a story of a racially motivated murder (the only film in the set in color), The League of Gentlemen (1960), a "slice of life" comedy starring Jack Hawkins and the fascinating, musically thrilling All Night Long (1962), Dearden's inspired updating of Shakespeare's Othello—set in the world of jazz with stars Paul Harris, Marti Stevens, Patrick McGoohan and rare appearances by jazz legends Charles Mingus, Dave Brubeck, Tubby Hayes and many others.
—TCM Greatest Classic Film Collection—Legends-Jean Harlow: This four-film set is a worthy introduction to the platinum blonde bombshell whose comedic and dramatic gifts were nicely displayed—along with her shapely torso—in a series of smartly packaged movies before her untimely death at 26 in 1937. The set includes four of her best: Dinner at Eight (1933), China Seas (1935), Wife vs. Secretary (1936) and Libeled Lady (1936).
—All About Eve (1950) and An Affair to Remember (1957) have been released in new Blu-ray editions and are worth the upgrade as both show significant improvement in picture and sound quality (and each has a few new extras and photo booklets as well).
Check out my archived reviews at www.windycitymediagroup.com or www.knightatthemovies.com . Readers can leave feedback at the latter website.
