The Eagle (2011)

In 140 AD, during the Roman occupation of Southern Britain, a soldier, Marcus (Channing Tatum), lives in the shadow of his disgraced father, who disappeared along with his entire legion many years earlier. In doing so, he lost the "Eagle" of the title, a symbol for Roman glory. After being heroically wounded in battle, Marcus recuperates with his uncle (Donald Sutherland) and rescues a slave, Esca (Jamie Bell), from a deadly battle. Unable to live with disgrace any longer, Marcus decides to take Esca and journey into enemy territory to find the fabled Eagle, thereby restoring his father's good name and setting things right. What Marcus doesn't realize is that the journey will teach him more than he ever could have realized.

The movie has a heavy, gray look and it's mostly humorless; it delves into the battles with grim resolve (and choppy editing), and it's not clear if the violence is supposed to be fun or cautionary; if it's the latter, then there's an awful lot of it, and it's tiresome. Fortunately, in his small role, Donald Sutherland strikes a nice, cheerful tone that -- in larger doses -- might have made the movie more fun, or at least campier.