The Count of Monte Cristo Review
by Robin Clifford (robin AT reelingreviews DOT com)January 24th, 2002
"The Count of Monte Cristo"
Edmond Dantes (Jim Caviezal) is second mate on a ship forced to seek help on the Island of Elbe, a prison holding the infamous Napoleon Bonaparte. When the fallen emperor seeks a simple favor from the illiterate sailor - deliver an innocent letter to a friend in France - he opens Dantes up to betrayal and imprisonment in the notorious Chateau D'If. Escape and revenge are Edmond's only recourse in director Kevin Reynolds's remake of the oft-told Alexandre Dumas tale, "The Count of Monte Cristo."
When Edmond returns from Elbe, his life is looking up. His stop on the island to help his sick captain results in the ship's owner offering Dantes command of the vessel. His best friend, Fernand Mondego (Guy Pearce), has harbored jealousy over the loving relationship between Edmond and his fiancée, the beautiful Mercedes (Dagmara Dominczyk), and uses the letter from Napoleon to get his friend arrested and imprisoned. Conspiring with the local magistrate, Villefort (James Frain), Mondego convinces Mercedes that Dantes was executed for treason. He gets the girl and Edmond is on his way to a life imprisoned in Chateau D'If where he is under the control of sadistic warden Dorleac (Michael Wincott).
One day, after years without human contact, Edmonds cell is broken into by another inmate, Abbe Faria (Richard Harris), an old soldier-turned-priest who has been digging an escape tunnel for years. The cleric sees the humorous irony of his breaking into another cell while escaping his own and takes Edmond on as a friend and student, teaching him to read, write and sword fight. Together, they plan another escape until tragedy strikes and Faria is killed - but not before he tells his friend about stolen gold he has hidden away on the Isle of Monte Cristo. Dantes fulfills the escape plans, finds the gold and begins, in earnest, to formulate his plans of revenge against Mondego and the rest as the extraordinarily wealthy Count of Monte Cristo.
For such a grand historical drama "The Count of Monte Cristo" has a stinginess about it that keeps the story and the action surrounding it from opening up. Part of this is due to the fact that, after the principle players, there are few supporting characters that are allowed to flesh out the background. It is up to the stars, alone, to draw us in to Dumas's tale of revenge but I think that the task proves too daunting.
Jim Caviezal has the handsome looks, striking blue eyes and physical presence to give a fair accounting for himself as the vengeful Edmond Dantes. Guy Pearce, as Edmond's former friend and current nemesis Fernand Mondego, is no more than a two-dimensional bad guy. Mondego is supposed to have been Edmond's friend since childhood, but the actor is so sullen and unlikable as the character the friendship simply doesn't make sense. (This is one of the liberties that scripter Jay Wolpert takes with the Dumas original. In the author's novel Edmond and Fernand are barely acquainted. The screenplay should have kept it that way.)
Richard Harris, as Edmond's friend and mentor, Abbe Faria, fares best of all of cast. The veteran thesp puts a dignified, sometimes humorous spin on his perf as the pragmatic cleric who takes on the task of educating the illiterate Dantes. The old man provides Edmond with hope to escape his prison and, with a secret, hidden treasure trove, the means to do good, but the younger man has only revenge on his mind. Dagmara Dominczyk as Mercedes, the object of affection for Edmond and attention for Fernand, is pretty enough to make us believe that hers could be the face that launched a thousand ships, but, when extensive dialog is required, her reading turns wooden. James Frain, as the villainous Villefort, the official responsible for Edmond's unfair incarceration, draws a complex characterization of a man whose own gains come first - even if it means jailing an innocent.
Director Kevin Reynolds does a lopsided job helming these proceeds. Lots of time is spent on narrative and explanation of what's happening and not nearly enough is spent on the several fight scenes that pepper the film. (This is a swashbuckling story, after all.) For instance, when the newly escaped Dantes is caught by local pirates, he is told that he must fight for his life against one of theirs, a little guy named Jacopo (Luis Guzman). I expected a bout between the two that would explain the bond that builds between them. Instead, it is slam, bam, thank you, ma'am and the knife fight is over before it really begins. The same goes for the climactic duel between Edmond and?oops, I've said enough. I don't want to give anything away here if you don't know the classic tale.
The screenplay, adapted from the Dumas novel by Wolpert, is a mix of period speech and contemporary lingo that doesn't always work. (At one point, Jacopo offers to kill his new friend's enemies, "bam, bam, bam, bam. Like that." I felt like I was watching a discussion between Dr. Evil and his son Scott in "Austin Powers.") This kind of modern/hip talk is fun in a film like "A Knight's Tale" but loses its cool quotient when slapped on a Dumas classic. (Imagine if Cervantes had Sancho Panza tell Don Quixote to "take a chill pill.")
Techs are decent and the Malta and Ireland exteriors are visually stunning. Costume designer Tom Rand does a good job creating a convincing look for all of the players, with the Count of Monte Cristo taking on an elegant oriental-looking wardrobe. Andrew Dunn's lensing helps keep things looking good.
While watching Reynolds's "The Count the Monte Cristo" I could not get the 1974 version, starring Richard Chamberlain in the title role, out of my head, making me want to see that interesting telling of the tale again. Better still, it whets my appetite to try and find the acclaimed 1934 making starring Robert Donat. The modern remake of Dumas's story is long on narrative and (too) short on action. I give it a B-.
For more Reeling reviews visit www.reelingreviews.com
[email protected]
[email protected]
More on 'The Count of Monte Cristo'...
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
