The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Kevin Reynolds

Writers (WGA):

Alexandre Dumas père (novel)
Jay Wolpert (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 January 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | History | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Prepare for adventure. Count on revenge.

Plot:

A young man, falsely imprisoned by his jealous "friends," escapes and uses a hidden treasure to exact his revenge

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Escape | Best Friend | Island Prison | Treasure

Cast

James Caviezel	...	Edmond Dantes (as Jim Caviezel)
Guy Pearce	...	Fernand Mondego
Richard Harris	...	Abbé Faria
James Frain	...	J.F. Villefort
Dagmara Dominczyk	...	Mercedès Iguanada
Michael Wincott	...	Armand Dorleac
Luis Guzmán	...	Jacopo
Christopher Adamson	...	Maurice
JB Blanc	...	Luigi Vampa
Guy Carleton	...	Mansion Owner
Alex Norton	...	Napoleon
Barry Cassin	...	Old Man Dantes
Henry Cavill	...	Albert Mondego
Aliaz Moufid	...	Holga (credit only) (as Zhara)
Brendan Costello	...	Viscount

Also Known As:

Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo (USA) (complete title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for adventure violence/swordplay and some sensuality.

Runtime:

131 min | Spain:134 min

Country:

UK | USA | Ireland

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #38851) | Iceland:12 | Malaysia:U | South Korea:12 | Australia:G (TV rating) | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Canada:PG | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/6 | Singapore:PG | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:PG (cut) | Canada:A (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Ardmore Studios - Herbert Road, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

The red paisley waistcoat Luis Guzmán (Jacopo) wears in the final scene is the same costume Chris Gorell Barnes wears in "The Regency House Party" (2004), Dan Stevens (Edward Ferrars) wears for Edward's arrival at Norland in "Sense & Sensibility" (2008), and JJ Feild (Fred Garland) wears in The Shadow in the North (2007) (TV).

Goofs:

Plot holes: In the graphic when Edmond comes back to Marseilles, it says "Three Months later", yet later in the movie Edmond indicates he's been in the Chateau d'If for 13 years and "everywhere else" for a total of 16 years (Albert's age). This would indicate that he was "smuggling" for 3 years therefore the graphic should have said "Three years later". (It may have been copied from a later graphic at the end of the movie that says "3 Months Later").

Quotes:

Dorleac: 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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Oldboy (2003)

Prepare for adventure. Count on enjoying this.

"The Count of Monte Cristo" is exactly what I expected it to be - entertaining. A classic? No. However it's far from a dud, and you could do a lot worse if you want to whittle away a bit of time watching a movie.

The movie version of the book leaves a bare bones plot, which is quite simple. Edmond Dantes (James Caviezel) is falsely imprisoned for treason, having been blackmailed by his friend Fernand Mondego (Guy Pearce) who covets Dantes' wife-to-be. Queue languishment in prison where he plots his escape and his ultimate revenge on Dantes in a highly fashionable style.

This movie is a neat little adaptation of the novel, seeing as it manages to retain some great pacing on screen. At times, admittedly, you feel there's certain pieces rushed (particularly towards the end as Dantes' plan unveils), but since it suffices to keep the story moving along swiftly that's OK. The script is nice and witty - there's a real sense of fun permeating the movie. While Caviezel is a serious actor, Guy Pearce is obviously loving his role as the dastardly Mondego, hamming and camping it up with a glee that's delightful to behold - he steals the screen every time he's on it. Other members of the cast similarily light up the movie, particularly Luis Guzmán as Dantes' side-kick Jacopo, and a wonderful turn by Richard Harris as the high-camp -prison-warder Abbé Faria (I found him hilariously nasty).

The direction on the movie is nice and smooth - there's no need for any fancy trickery here on the part of Kevin Reynolds. Indeed the smooth almost gentle nature of it all, including well paced sword fights, is a nice change from some of the more overly-excessive energetic work of today's movies.

Is the movie perfect? No. It's not smart enough, or quite well made enough for that. But it is a hell of a lot of fun, and most certainly enjoyable - and that's often all you want. With it's great sense of fun, and some lovely performances throughout, it's a worthwhile diversion for a while. I'll give it a 7.8.