Let's be realistic.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

A bloody civil war, a romantic triangle, and personal rivalry between boyhood friends are the makings of Roland Joffe's attempt to produce an epic film that would stand with those of David Lean. Despite the lofty ambition, Joffe's grand scale "There Be Dragons" fails to achieve that goal. While handsomely mounted and photographed, Joffe's script is not on a caliber with the literate work of Robert Bolt, who wrote the Lean epics. Joffe's cast of little-known or unknown performers can only be described as adequate; no Alec Guinnesses or Peter O'Tooles herein, only Wes Bentley as Manolo and Charlie Cox as Josemaria.In early 20th-century Spain, two young friends and rivals travel life together from boyhood through their early years as seminarians. However, the two part company at that point, one to embrace God and the other to pursue worldly endeavors; Joffe intends the disparate characters to be opposing sides of the same persona, but with Cox and Manolo, the persona has little depth. "There Be Dragons" opens when Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei, is about to be canonized; seeing a news opportunity, Roberto Torres, a Spanish journalist, undertakes research into the life of the Spanish priest and re-connects with his estranged father, who knew Josemaria when he was younger. The story unfolds in flashbacks as the writer uncovers historical information on his subject, and secrets long held are revealed. The early scenes cover the boyhood years of Escriva and his friend, Manolo; evoking nostalgia, the childhood moments with family and friends glow against picturesque Spanish villages and countryside; Geraldine Chaplin and Derek Jacobi have effective, but small roles during these episodes. Throughout, the film cuts back and forth between the present, where Torres and his girlfriend tend and query the reporter's aged father, and the past, where both Escriva and Manolo are caught up in the turmoil of the Spanish Civil War.The battles are effectively staged and shot, and memorable scenes occur in Madrid, where priests are persecuted, hunted, and murdered. Relatively short for an ambitious epic, "There Be Dragons" sags a bit in the middle, bogged down by the requisite romantic interlude, and moves to a sappy conclusion; Wes Bentley's old age make-up is particularly poor, and an homage to "2001: a Space Odyssey" is a head-scratcher; movie buffs will expect the monolith to appear and "Thus Sprach Zarathustra" to blare from the soundtrack. Although the theme of forgiveness crops up regularly in Joffe's screenplay, any attribute that might qualify Josemaria for canonization is left unsaid and unseen, although reference is made early on to a miracle that occurred in his name. Perhaps a great epic film could have been made from this material; a grand romance and personal rivalry against a sweeping historical canvas like the Spanish Civil War, but "There Be Dragons" is no "Dr. Zhivago." Although Joffe's film is worth a viewing and does generate interest, the results are disappointing in light of what might have been with a better script and cast.

The dark, ominous themes of the shots reflect on the gruesome war setting and emotionally charged events that shape the story. Dramatic wide angles and poignant close ups convey the story's mood in its vivid cinematography. As the director of cinematography, Gabriel Beristain creates a stunningly accurate visual representation of the character's emotional turmoil. Each shot portrays an expertise at visual storytelling that takes years of experience to develop.Both technically and artistically, There Be Dragons is harmonious and excellent. Characters were not unnecessarily sexualized nor were there extensive uses of vulgarity. Director, Producer and writer Roland Joffe invested his entire self into this film. Critics assert Joffe infused too much of himself into the film, but many viewers argue that this aspect is what makes There Be Dragons so impactful. The prevalent concern of critics, however, is the weaknesses of the script, which they consider too long and busy. I agree with this, as the many layers and details in the film made it difficult to summarize and retell. Actors Charlie Cox and Wes Bentley, who portrayed José Maria and Manelo respectively, were outstanding in their roles. The entire cast was professional and talented, portraying a genuine connection to the story and their characters. Amy Hubbard, John Hubbard, Ros Hubbard and Cathy Sandrich cast the film. Vibrant and stirring, the There Be Dragons soundtrack was thoughtfully composed by Robert Folk with special attention paid to the underlying moods of each scene. Music and picture meld flawlessly. An epic score with a Spanish feel, listeners are told a story of bravery and drama with their ears alone. Folk's use of choir and orchestra translates the theme of the movie exquisitely.

There are reviews in IMDb that praise this movie. I don't know by what standard they measure movie making, but I would have to say that this movie is one of the worst movies I have seen in a long time. Lets take the music. It soars, but in all the wrong places. It emotes, with all the wrong signals. It is woefully inappropriate. It is so full of choral voices that I truly have to believe that the composer and arranger were reading a different script or watching different rushes when they wrote the score. Lets take the script. It is full of utterly trivial dialogue. There just isn't very much that I can say other than it is horrendous. The cinematography is not bad. The DOP did a fine job. The acting. Why is it that we haven't seen the lead actors in other movies? Could it be that when they put footage from this movie in their show reels they were automatically dropped out of contention? Good looking actors with poor scripting, and worse storyline. You have to sympathise with them.... really. So what on earth were people like Charles Dance and Geraldine Chaplin doing in this movie? You would have to believe that they owed the director or the producer a favour. I can't believe that they could need the money that badly! So do yourself a favour and return the DVD to your local store before you waste the time to put it in your DVD drive....

This is a movie that has been well-endorsed by the Catholic Church here in our country. It is supposed to deal with the life of a saint, St. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of the controversial organization, the Opus Dei. I must admit that even if I had friends who were members of Opus Dei, I do not really know much about them or about their organization, only what I hear from the outside. I am mostly interested to learn the historical milieu of this film that is why I wanted to watch this.The story is told in flashbacks from the point of view of one Manolo Torres as his estranged son Robert interviews him about his friend Josemaria Escriva (who was then already on his way to becoming a saint in 1982). Manolo and Josemaria were childhood friends. Class differences broke up their friendship as the kids grew up. The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War broke them up even more, as Josemaria went into the priesthood and Manolo went with an anti-clerical militia group. Important revelations about Robert himself would also surface as his father begs for forgiveness for his past.It felt ironic that Escriva was not exactly the central character of this movie since all the publicity was about him. We do see the beginning of his organization of lay workers who lived together, much like today's Opus Dei centers. But other than that, Escriva was merely a side character in the main story of Manolo and his efforts to find redemption for his terrible decisions in his life. You will not really learn much detail about Escriva by watching this film, but you may be inspired to learn more about him. In fact, during the latter third of the film, the character of Escriva was not even on screen until the epilogue.The story was admittedly very slow to unfold (nearly two hours), but we are treated to some masterfully beautiful cinematography. I was excited to see the name of Roland Joffe as the director. It had certainly been a very long time since he gave us classics like "The Mission" and "The Killing Fields," and you can really see his classy touch here. For a film with heavy religious undertones, I was surprised to learn that Joffe was an agnostic. That may actually have been good for this film, as it did not go overboard with religious propaganda. The acting of the leads Wes Bently (as Manolo) and Charlie Cox (as Escriva) were proficient though a bit wooden. I also welcomed the unexpected presence of exotic Bond Girl Olga Kurilenko as Ildiko, the tragic woman in Manolo's life. I think this movie is worth the time to watch, and maybe even re-watch.