The Count of Monte Cristo

Fantastic story given a quite smashing adaptation.

Every once in a while, when Hollywood is stuck for new swashbuckling ideas, they turn to the writer of "The Three Musketeers", "The Man In The Iron Mask" and "The Count Of Monte Cristo", one Alexandre Dumas père. Which of course is no bad thing as long as the adaptation is given care and consideration - which hasn't always been the case. So when it was announced that the director of Waterworld, Kevin Reynolds, was to direct the latest version of "The Count Of Monte Cristo", many feared the worst. Made for around $35 million, Reynolds' film fared OK at the Worldwide box office, taking in around $76 million. Yet although far from being a flop, it upped and vanished rather quickly and was...

Jim Caviezel is adequate, no better, as the wronged "Edmond" who gets caught up in a Napoleonic conspiracy that sees him confined on a remote island prison from which no-one escapes alive. His situation seems hopeless, until he receives an unlikely visitor - the elderly Abbe Faria (Richard Harris), who has been trying to tunnel his way out but took a bit of a wrong turning! The two become firm friends, and his parting gifts to the younger man are the secrets of an immense treasure - and his bodybag - that might enable him to seek revenge on "Fernand" (Guy Pearce); "Villefort" (James Frain) and "Maurice" (Christophe Adams) whose machinations stole a great chunk of his life, and cost him the love of "Mercedes" (Dagmara Dominczyk). His vengean...

Well, it's not one quality... but I like to do a thumbs up or thumbs down approach. If the movie entertains a thumbs up, if it doesn't a thumbs down. Seems simpler than debating on a 4, a 5, a 6, whatever.

This is also kind of why I want to be able to review individual actors, just so I can write a memo to Guy Peirce and tell him that he needs to stop doing period literary pieces and go back to making films that don't require ascots and puffs.

And this brings me to the point in the review where I question why I know what the difference between an ascot and a puff are.

Anyway, self-reflection aside, the problem is that it doesn't know if it wants to be a thrilling adventure novel that is best epitomized by the writings of Dumas in a...