Restoration - Robert Downey Jr [DVD]

Restoration follows a young doctor (Robert Merivel played by Robert Downey, Jr.) in the 17th century whose skill gain him favour with Charles II (Sam Neil), who weds him to his own mistress as a paper-groom under the condition that he does not fall in love with her, in return for his own estate. Predictably, Merivel begins to fall for the woman and ultimately falls from paradise, from which he must redeem himself.
The movie is effectively split into two parts; the first half of which focuses on Merivel's rise to power and how he loses sight of what brought him to the king's attention in the first place - his skill at medicine. The costumes and interiors in this section of the movie are breathtaking, and the tone of the movie light-hearted and comedic in places. The latter half of the movie, however, is far darker and focuses on Merivel's rediscovery of medicine and having to deal with the loss of friends and lovers, as well as plague-ridden London.
Merivel is a character who, at the start of the movie seems to be nothing more then a fool doomed to learn his lessons the hard way, but we can never truly dislike him thanks to the charming naivety Robert Downey, Jr. brings to the role. Sam Neill makes for a charismatic Charles II and David Thewlis gives a respectable performance as Merivel's straight-laced best friend. Indeed all the performances are well done save for Meg Ryan's Irish madwoman who, unfortunately, seems far too over the top even for someone insane.
Some may argue that the movie takes a turn for the worse during the second half however I believe it's a crucial turning point with regards to Merivel as a character. The audience may sympathise with him to a point, but it is not until a scene close to the end of the movie in which London's burning do we realise that we've come to know the character, and genuinely want a happy ending for him. Personally, I find both halves of the movie so full of emotional ups and downs that I can't help but love the entire thing.

As for the DVD itself, I chose to buy the Dutch version because it is Region 2, and, although I own a Region 1 DVD player, I wanted to be able to play the movie on any one of my consoles. The Dutch version contains no extras and has Dutch subtitles, which can only be gotten rid of if your DVD remote has a subtitle button, or if you are playing the DVD on a computer games console, as there is no option in the menu screens of the DVD to turn subtitles off.
Another minus point compared with the Region 1 version is that the cover is some of the worst packaging I have ever seen. The cover image is misleading, a picture of, I assume both RDJ and Meg Ryan during what I imagine is an intimate moment, despite the fact that the love story in the movie is barely even a subplot. The back cover too shows no stills of the movie, so if you aren't well informed of the movies content, and don't speak Dutch, you probably won't gain much information from the cover.
As well as this, Hugh Grant's name is largest and first in the credits, although he only cameos. Misleading as these things are, the movie itself is still sound, and if you prioritise playability (in other words, if you want to lend the movie to a friend or watch it on a number of different DVD players) over aesthetics then go with this Region 2 version, otherwise go for the American version.

One last thing; why no release over in this country anyway???

I've just finished reading the novel this movie is based upon, and so this was something rather exciting and interesting for me!

In many ways, it is a little unfair to compare both book and movie, since it is always somewhat difficult to get an accurate adaptation due to time alone. (pressing four hundred or so pages into a mere two hour film is rather a tall order - not to mention that every Reader of course will inevitably have a different imagination and interpretation of the same story) However, the first half of this movie is pretty faithful to the book, but it is the second half that brings rather a lot of changes and alterations, and for those of you who have read the book; Hugh Grant's character ('Finn') is notably absent throughout this second half. However, the changes do not spoil this outstanding Picture, and I feel sure that Rose Tremain would have been suitably pleased with the result!

Not being familiar with Robert Downey Jnr. (I don't watch a lot of modern TV or movies as a rule) I was a little unsure of his portraying 'Merivel' - the fact that he was not English could have been a problem in itself, since many American actors are not usually very adept at the English accent - but a couple of Americans in this surpass themselves, and Downey comes across as thoroughly English! At the end of the movie, of course I had no doubt that he'd been right for the part and had been well-chosen. (perhaps the only criticism being that he was not the ugly-featured man the book had described)

This is a most WONDERFUL film - as is the book, and there are some very moving scenes within this as well as the amusing ones - in particular, I was moved to tears during the scene where the inmates of a poor Bedlam are coaxed outside into the grounds to dance to music to help their poor bedevilled minds - and indeed it seemed to have the desired affect and makes one wonder if music should be good therapy for such disturbed people? Because of this, and other moving moments within the Picture, I was a little frustrated by the Trailer that was made, since it does not do the film justice. None of the moving scenes are shown, which allows it to come across as little more than just a 'farce' and so I felt this to be a mistake for any of those who perhaps had not read the book, and may have dismissed it accordingly by this factor alone.

This is a 'lush' and lavish production with a wonderful backing soundtrack that is reminiscent of something Enya may have composed but did not.

The Bonus material included on my copy has an interesting 'Featurette', but once again; does not highlight the any of the movies best moments, and is simply not long enough...

A truly WONDERFUL film you will want to see again and again!

This gets a THOUSAND Amazon Stars from me!!

I've just finished reading the novel this movie is based upon, and so this was something rather exciting and interesting for me!

In many ways, it is a little unfair to compare both book and movie, since it is always somewhat difficult to get an accurate adaptation due to time alone. (pressing four hundred or so pages into a mere two hour film is rather a tall order - not to mention that every Reader of course will inevitably have a different imagination and interpretation of the same story) However, the first half of this movie is pretty faithful to the book, but it is the second half that brings rather a lot of changes and alterations, and for those of you who have read the book; Hugh Grant's character ('Finn') is notably absent throughout this second half. However, the changes do not spoil this outstanding Picture, and I feel sure that Rose Tremain would have been suitably pleased with the result!

Not being familiar with Robert Downey Jnr. (I don't watch a lot of modern TV or movies as a rule) I was a little unsure of his portraying 'Merivel' - the fact that he was not English could have been a problem in itself, since many American actors are not usually very adept at the English accent - but a couple of Americans in this surpass themselves, and Downey comes across as thoroughly English! At the end of the movie, of course I had no doubt that he'd been right for the part and had been well-chosen. (perhaps the only criticism being that he was not the ugly-featured man the book had described)

This is a most WONDERFUL film - as is the book, and there are some very moving scenes within this as well as the amusing ones - in particular, I was moved to tears during the scene where the inmates of a poor Bedlam are coaxed outside into the grounds to dance to music to help their poor bedevilled minds - and indeed it seemed to have the desired affect and makes one wonder if music should be good therapy for such disturbed people? Because of this, and other moving moments within the Picture, I was a little frustrated by the Trailer that was made, since it does not do the film justice. None of the moving scenes are shown, which allows it to come across as little more than just a 'farce' and so I felt this to be a mistake for any of those who perhaps had not read the book, and may have dismissed it accordingly by this factor alone.

This is a 'lush' and lavish production with a wonderful backing soundtrack that is reminiscent of something Enya may have composed but did not.

The Bonus material included on my copy has an interesting 'Featurette', but once again; does not highlight the any of the movies best moments, and is simply not long enough...

A truly WONDERFUL film you will want to see again and again!

This gets a THOUSAND Amazon Stars from me!!