A very good version of a not very good play - Ralph Fiennes' direction is full of vigour and pace, updating it to the present day works (it has a 90s Yugoslavian vibe), the cast is strong and littered with terrific actors (old hands like Vanessa Redgrave, Gerard Butler proves he can act, James Nesbitt and Brian Cox are good as always, Jessica Chastian is an exciting, gorgeous new star), the multi-racialness of it works (black presidents, Irish and Scottish accents).
But it's not much of a story. Ralph's Corionalus is a psycho soldier so good at fighting he sucks at being a politician so they kick him out and he seeks revenge with his old enemy (Gerard Butler). Actually that's not a bad through line - but we don't really get to know Corionalus that well. Or maybe we do and he's not that interesting. The relationship between him and his mother (Redgrave) feels especially sketchy here. And some of the updating didn't make sense e.g. having a dagger duel between Fiennes and Butler during a shooting war.
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