Most people remember when Russell Crowe threw a phone at a housekeeping worker at a hotel. That was really funny, but kind of a letdown. Russell Crowe is a tremendous actor and I hope he lives a good life off screen. Gladiator, however, was no letdown.

This film also co-stars Jacquin Phoenix, who went AWOL with acting and had an awkward experience on Letterman in February. Phoenix is a great actor and does an awesome job as the villain in this film, and you really hate him.

The story was severely entertaining and superbly written. There was action a-plenty. The acting was near perfect. Hans Zimmer’s music is tremendous (but weirdly Pirate-esque). The special effects were seamless, especially when you realize that this film was released almost 10 years ago.

I had only one problem with this film. There are a few lines here and there that are mumbled and quiet that I had to rewind and listen to again (sometimes 3 times). That got to be a little annoying.

This film is an epic. It is rated R (i’m sure for violence) so any desensitized kid is ok watching it. I wouldn’t recommend it, but if they are already messed up with video game violence, this film won’t hurt any. It runs 155 minutes (unless you get the extended version on DVD). I give this really cool film 9 ramheads out of 10.