Amadeus

I usually don't have a problem with historical dramas that have very little basis in history. In this list alone I enjoy Gladiator and Braveheart in equal measure, while the war movies don't make me too irked at the fabricated American supremacy. Yet Amadeus from start to finish is just loathsome.

Mozart to me was a musical genius, and not the vaudeville type character that was portrayed in this movie. I see absolutely no reason why he needed to be played in that way whatsoever. It was cheap and tawdry, and did absolutely no justice to either Mozart or indeed Salieri.

I think part of the problem for me was that for the cinematic release too much was edited out to make the story make sense. For instance why did Constanze dislike Salieri in the penultimate scene of the movie? Apparently in the Director's cut that is explained, yet to me it was just another example of quite a weak storyline.

I could forgive the historical inaccuracies if the story-line made sense, but the supposed enmity between Salieri and Mozart (which is the whole point of the film) is in no way shape or form apparent. Or perhaps the director/script-writer is trying to suggest that Salieri is as bad at that as he is at composing?! If you want to make Salieri the boogeyman then the least he could do is do something horrific to merit it.

I was about to say something positive about the acting, and suggest that Abraham was probably deserving of his Oscar, however after trying to think about what it was he did well I am left stumped.

Overrated, ridiculous story-line that makes no sense and fails historically, how did this make it into the Top 100????