AGORA -- is it too open?

AGORA -- is it too open?

The "agora" was the open meeting place/trade place of the Greeks. This movie, entitled "Agora," explores that concept of "openness" (I think) as the Greek world was being eclipsed by the Christian / Roman in the late fourth century in Alexandria. I generally like toga and sandal epics, so I hoped for much from the film. I was generally disappointed. Initially, the rise of Christianity was handled in a fairly balanced way. And in the story, the Christians did not start the attacks on other religions. But very quickly the Christians emerge as dominant and begin severe persecutions -- ultimately crushing free scientific inquiry. (At least, I think that was the point of the movie. I must admit, I thought things entangled as the film moved to a conclusion. Is it a story about freedom? Is it about religious toleration? Is it a love story? Is it a story of mature friendships? Is it a criticism of the church becoming involved in government? Is it all these? If so, it needed to be longer, and it was already too long.) Besides, the predominance of Christianity had already been legislated for the Roman Empire almost two generations previously by Constantine. As usual, Rachel Weisz is amazing, but a better epic could have been made.