A few years ago, when I first heard about this project, it was going to be told from the perspective of the Sheriff of Nottingham... I wonder why it changed.

@ duckgirlie: probably because Russel Crowe didn't see himself as the glowering, quasi-evil, phone-throwing *ahem* I mean tax-thieving villain.

I had hoped that Gladiator, which was terribly dull except for Joachim Phoenix's expert chewing of scenery, was an outlier in Mr. Scott's fabulous oeuvre. But no, it was the first hint of decline which has lead to the Crusades movie and now this. The man who made the Duelists, Alien, Blade Runner and BlackHawk Down now makes condescending, trite, pompous and slow films. Getting old is a bitch.