Time: 123 minutes.

Cast: James Caviezel (Edmund Dantes), Guy Pearce (Fernand Mondego), Henry Cavill (Albert Mondego), Dagmara Dominiczyk (Mercedes), James Frain (Villefort), Richard Harris (Faria), Michael Wincott (Dorleac), Albie Woodington (Danglars)
Director: Kevin Reynolds.

Based on Alexander Dumas' book of the same name, the story follows a sailor wrongfully imprisoned for treason. Myself, I haven't had the pleasure yet to actually read the book (I know, I'm awful I appologise.) but I'm told it follows it fairly well. (And therefore now want to read the book.)

Reguardless if this is or is not a true fact, this is quite a good film. Lots of action and anger and lovely things such as that. And of course you have Richard Harris, and that makes up for any pitfalls there might have been, but then, there weren't any. So I suppose Richard Harris only makes it better.

James Caviezel was brilliant in the role of 'Edmund Dantes', playing both the honest working class sailor guy and the brilliant prisoner prodigy equally well, and somehow devising a devious way to make them flow together like suddenly turning into a genius is the most natural thing in the world. Richard Harris is, of course, the best player of curmudgeony (Hey, I just invented a new word! Hurray!)old men in the world, and of course I believe this fact to be indisputable. (So in short, please don't dispute me this, or I shall have to say something scathing in reply.)

There weren't any pitfalls, besides a few amusingly placed/worded lines. One of my favourites was Dantes {as the count} saying to a guest at a party /not/ at his house
'Oh, how nice of you to have come to see me!'

Now, I'm not entirely sure if this was just blatant sarcasm on the part of the character (which it may well have been) or the writer having a few too many pints directly before writing the screenplay.

There was quite a lot of swordplay, of course, and JJ never minds things like that, /ever/.

Either way, this film gets five out of five smiley men and an extra added and just because I felt the need to put them in. (Oh, and the winky eye, that too.)

Jedi Jade

07.02.02. Front Page

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