Creditable retelling of an early chapter in Texas history ("As goes the Alamo, so goes Texas"), not as cumbersome as the John Wayne version of 1960, perhaps even a little cursory. Director and co-screenwriter John Lee Hancock humanizes the central figures -- Crockett, Bowie, Travis, Houston, though not the ogre-ish Santa Anna -- without demythicizing them, and without diminishing their heroism. Stage actor Patrick Wilson, with his Paul Newman puckered lips and baby-blue eyes, makes an impressive screen debut as Travis, under better control than the veterans Billy Bob Thornton (Crockett), Jason Patric (Bowie), and Dennis Quaid (Houston). (2004) — Duncan Shepherd
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