I LOVE Joaquin Phoenix. I think he is a superb actor. However, his performance in this movie left me bewildered. Was he playing Napoleon as a buffoon? Do we really believe that the French Emperor Napoleon I was the socially awkward dolt Phoenix made him out to be? There was so much about this movie that was great – the battle scenes, the cinematography, the costumes, etc. Historical inaccuracies aside, this was an utterly watchable movie. I was NOT bored. But Phoenix’s portrayal of Napoleon as a man who was somewhere “on the spectrum” was confusing. I’ve known and dated several men like that. But I tend to think that Napoleon had a bit more swagger even if he was privately a mental hot mess.
