The two central characters in Jean-Jacques Annaud's early 20th-century Arabian adventure are the Emir of Hobeika and Amar and the Sultan of Salmaah. And who gets to play them? Why, none other than Antonio Banderas, brought up in Andalucia, and Mark Strong, from the UK. Right away, one has one's doubts about the veracity of the movie.
Both sultan and emir lay claim to a stretch of inhospitable desert in which some awful American company has found masses of oil, but they come to an accommodation, involving the sultan's sons.
There are also beautiful slaves around and nasty half-brothers to provide villainous deeds - and there's the vague idea that oil has had a detrimental impact on Arab mores as well as the Gulf's history.
All this is told in dialogue just the right side of cliché and some nice widescreen cinematography. But David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia it is not.
Indeed, the whole farrago makes Annaud's earlier films, which include Quest for Fire and The Name of the Rose, look even better than they seemed at the time. The real problem is that Black Gold is rather dull, and much too long for comfort.
Black Gold
Cert: U
