The Count of Monte Cristo Review
by Bob Bloom (bobbloom AT iquest DOT net)January 25th, 2002
THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (2002) 1 star out of 4. Starring Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce, Dagmara Domiczyk, Luis Guzman, Richard Harris, James Frain, Freddie Jones, Albie Woodington and Michael Wincott. Screenplay by Jay Wolpert. Directed by Kevin Reynolds. Rated PG-13.
Don’t count on The Count of Monte Cristo to provide any thrills or flair. This latest version of the Dumas classic lacks swash, panache and sex appeal.
Bland aptly describes this sluggish rendition.
Any excursion into the swashbuckling genre needs an actor with charisma and a larger-than-life persona to help carry it off. Unfortunately, Jim Caviezel (The Thin Red Line, Frequency, Pay It Forward), while a good actor, lacks those qualities.
Director Kevin Reynolds, who also helmed the laughable Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, which was one of Kevin Costner’s biggest misfires, has learned nothing since that initial fiasco. His Monte Cristo falters on all counts.
He can’t even coax a decent performance from leading lady Dagmara Domiczyk as the lovely Mercedes. She is as wooden as one of the ships sitting in the Marseilles harbor, and delivers her dialogue as if starring in a high school adaptation of the novel.
Monte Cristo looks pretty, which appears to be its only attribute. Scenic vistas, colorful costumes, period.
Caviezel, a solid actor, fails to reach the heights or carry the weight needed to portray Monte Cristo. His rage at the injustice done to him almost seems peevish and childish. Caviezel fares best in the early scenes as the naive Edmond Dantes, manipulated into a living death in the Chateau D'If by those he trusted most.
The grandeur, haughtiness and cunning necessary to believably portray the count, escapes him though.
Guy Pearce as Edmond’s supposed best friend, Fernand, Count Mondego, whose overwhelming jealously leads to the betrayal of his comrade cannot conjure the malevolence needed to carry off his part. He seems more peevish than
dastardly.
Slow and lifeless best describe this latest remake of this oft-told tale.
No sense of pacing, no hint of what makes an adventure film spur the imagination. This Count of Monte Cristo is of no account.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or at [email protected]. Other reviews by Bloom can be found at www.jconline.com by clicking on golafayette. Bloom's reviews also can be found on the Web at the Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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