Lawrence of Arabia(1962)- User Reviews

This movie changed my life. Granted, I was ten years old in 1962, but there will never be a more sublime role model for a boy to see what it takes to become a hero. While most boys may have liked Steve Reeves as Hercules and Sinbad, his victories came too easily. Heroes have to suffer, and O'Toole's range of emotion was eye-popping. The catharses and metamorphosis, from a bored mapmaker to a "chic" warrior sheik (sorry), was so effective I might not have been surprised if I had found Arabian sand in my shoes when I got home. The entire cast, including Alec Guiness, Claude Rains, Anthony Quinn, Anthony Quayle and Omar Sharif were all spell binding as well. Yes, it slows a bit after Lawrence takes one for the the team and hides in a cave -- well, was Lean supposed to ignore the soul searching depression(?); it's part of the package. The audience must suffer for great art, too. At least he did not have Divine shoot anybody! (Insider John Waters joke.)
At the end of the three hours plus, Lawrence looks back at some arabs on camels as he is leaving for England. You know he longs to stay, and I wanted to as well - badly. I loved my home, but David Lean made real life droll and banal. The last line before intermission comes from Anthony Quinn, saying of Lawrence, "He is not perfect." True, but this movie was.