The Count Of Monte Cristo [DVD] [2002]

Of the direction, after a few (well deserved, have you seen Waterworld?) years in the wilderness, Kevin Reynolds has made a decent movie again, and thankfully Kevin Costner's nowhere in sight. It looks great, the underworld rescue of Fernand's son by Dantes is really well done, shadows everywhere, and Monte Cristo's first appearance (by balloon) is also great to watch, slow, majestic, with a sea of awed French aristocrats staring up at this flying man.

Jim Caveziel is fantastic as the brooding, obssessed Edmond Dantes, although the script lets him down, which is where my main complaint come in: we are left without the deep insight into the mind of a man so whole heartedly bent on revenge that a longer, less Hollywood film might have given us, and that the tv version, with Depardieu, certainly did. It is too simplistic, Caveziel does his best, which is certainly good enough, but more care and attention to detail if you please. Oh, and while we're on the subject of complaints, I wanted more sword fights! A childish request I know, but like I said, I like seeing a good sword fight on screen.

As far as the rest of the cast goes, Guy Pearce seems determined to rank alongside Alan Rickman as a movie villain, and hams it up very entertainingly, with an amazing bouffant hairdo, achieved through 18th century hairdryers, i have no doubt. Richard Harris does yet another old, weary father figure, Luis Guzman mugs along as Dantes smuggler sidekick (but he does this sort of thing better than most) but the supporting player that stands out has to be Michael Wincott as the sadistic warden of the Chateau D'If. Obviously having great fun with the role, Wincott is a joy to watch (as much as watching a brutal, yet cultured prison warden can be fun to watch I suppose). Typecast he may be, but he's damn good at what he does.

Overall, this is high class swashbuckling entertainment, and Reynolds can now be (pretty much) forgiven for giving far too much screen time to Costner's ego in the early nineties. A more detailed script would probably have killed it at the box office, but would have improved the film greatly rather than just making it a superior Saturday night at the movies. Oh, and again: can I see more sword fighting please?

Based on the classic Alexandre Dumas book of the same name, it is the story of lowly born Edmond Dantes who, whilst diligently working his way up the social ladder by hard work and honesty is betrayed by his so-called fiend, the Count of Morcerf Fernand Mondego. Mondego is green with envy and more than a little enraptured by Dantes's fiancée, the stunning Mercedes Iguanada and once Dantes is out of the way he wastes no time in moving in on the now available Mercedes.

Poor old Edmond is not only out of the way, he is sent to the infamous prison castle of Chateau D'If where the prisoners are beaten every year on their anniversary of incarceration to remind them of the time they have been behind bars. Fortunately for Edmond he receives a "visit" by fellow prisoner Abbe Faria, an ex-soldier and priest, who not only is digging a tunnel out of the prison but also undertakes to teach the naïve Edmond lessons in subjects as diverse as sword fighting, economics, unarmed combat and reading and writing.

To tell any more of the plot would ruin the film, but suffice to say that what follows in a entertaining roller coaster ride of fun and adventure as Edmond, recreated as the Count of Monte Cristo, plans to extract his revenge on those who have betrayed him.

One of the best things about the film is that the cast, whilst being fairly familiar to cinema fans, are not big major stars. There's no grabbing of the limelight here by some big name about whom the screenplay has been designed. James Caviezel is great as the misfortunate Edmond with a real wide-eyed innocence about his performance. Likewise Dantes's nemesis Fernand Mondego is superbly sneering played by Guy Pearce. There also some great support from Luis Guzman as the Count's hilarious and entertaining sidekick Jacopo the Maggot, JB Blanc as the smuggler boss and the gorgeous Dagmara Dominczyk as Mercedes. Possibly stealing the show is the much-missed Richard Harris as Edmond's prison friend Abbe Faria.

Another great plus point of the film is that it combines the elements of action, romance, sentiment, intrigue and storyline in exactly the right amounts, so it doesn't become a sloppy piece of period romance nor a unfathomable mess of plot and counter-plot. Great viewing for the family and thoroughly entertaining.

This is Wolpert's first movie screenplay. Previously he worked as a writer on the television series "The Lot," having mostly been a producer of television games shows such as "The Price is Right" and "Match Game." So it is rather surprising that his adaptation is so strong. I would not have minded if the film had more of an epic heft to it, but I do understand the Hollywood mentality that depends such films come in under two hours. Wolpert's dialogue also has some wonderful moments, such as when Dorleac strings up his new prisoner, Edmond, and says: "Now you're thinking, just now 'Why me, O God?' The answer is, God has nothing to do with it. In fact, God is never in France this time of year." Later on Jacopo (Luis Guzmán), the smuggler turned valet who serves the Count, tells his master "God sees you out of the corner of his eye." There are several gems like this throughout the film, which balance the more pedestrian lines and the several anachronistic examples of street talk that intrude on the tale. This version of "The Count of Monte Cristo" is not a great film but it is a very good adventure story, whether you know the original tale or not (unabridged or not).