Nomad

Though it has a familiar inevitability, the journey is generally compelling, thanks to fierce battles, a gorgeous landscape and heartfelt performances.

With commendable sincerity but also an unfortunate Hollywood veneer, Nomad is a poor man's "Gladiator."

Picture fits seamlessly together although it is somewhat generic in flavor, with an off-the-shelf narrative arch and characterizations drawn using broad brushstrokes.

The filmmakers don't appear to know what's important, let alone how to pace an epic for big drama and maximum thrills.

It took the combined directorial talents of Ivan Passer and Sergei Bodrov to complete this historical epic about the 18th-century attempt to unify the contentious Kazakh tribes into what would become Kazakhstan (no Borat jokes, please), but the result is really little more than an intermittently entertaining.

While the film has impressive 18th-century trappings and vivid battle scenes, the plotting and acting are rudimentary.

Not very good.