Gladiator (2000)

Write the plot of Gladiator on a sticky note and you’d still have room for a grocery list. General loses everything, general wants payback, general wins over a crowd. That’s it. What saves it is commitment. Russell Crowe plays Maximus like a man carrying a mountain and refusing to mention it. Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus is the real show, a needy emperor who wants to be loved so badly it’s scary. The arena fights are loud, dusty and mean, and Ridley Scott shoots the Colosseum like a sold-out stadium where everyone is a little too excited. Some of the computer-built Rome looks like a video game cutscene now, and at 155 minutes the senate politics in the middle drag. It made $465.5 million worldwide on a reported $103 million budget. So it’s an 8.3, because a simple story told this hard still hits. $92 says you give the last slice of pizza a slow thumbs-down this week and refuse to explain.

What works: Joaquin Phoenix’s needy, scary Commodus, Russell Crowe’s quiet weight, and arena fights that feel big and dangerous.

What doesn’t: The story is bare-bones revenge, the senate politics drag the middle, and some of the digital Rome looks dated now.

Who it’s for: Anyone who loves a big swords-and-sandals epic and doesn’t need a twist to have a good time.