Deborah Ross

A bit too short: Napoleon reviewed

Joaquin Phoenix plays Napoleon as a man-child in Ridley Scott's hurried and confusing biopic

‘Very, very bad in bed’: Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon 
issue 25 November 2023

Ridley Scott’s Napoleon, starring Joaquin Phoenix, has a running time of two hours and 40 minutes, which is scant by today’s standards, but don’t worry: a four hour-plus director’s cut is on its way. So this is Scott’s Napoleon Abridged, you could say, and it does have the feel of a film that’s been scissored to death.

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