Best picture: The long road leads to Rome.

Publication: South Florida Sun-Sentinel (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service)

Bookmark this article Print this article Link to this article Email this article Digg It! Add to del.icio.us RSS

COPYRIGHT 2001 South Florida Sun-Sentinal

Byline: Todd Anthony

If you believe the oddsmakers in Vegas and London, this year's best-picture Oscar voters equate length with quality.

None of this year's five best-picture nominees clocks in at less than two hours. The longest, "Gladiator," goes a whopping 2 hours, 34 minutes. That gives it a 7-minute advantage over closest rival "Traffic."

Not surprisingly, the professional prognosticators pick the Roman period spectacle to vanquish its topical foe. They make "Gladiator" the odds-on favorite, with "Traffic" stalled in second. "Erin Brockovich" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" follow. "Chocolat," more than a half-hour shorter than "Gladiator," brings up the rear.

Of course, time is not all that the sword-and-sandal marathon has on its side. Spiffy costumes, historical setting and massive (if digitally augmented) crowd scenes helped imbue...

Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.