Supporting Victims: Joel Fuernsinn, Erik Lystad, and Sean Marston
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas is a delightful tale about betrayal, lots of revenge, and eventual moral redemption set in 19th
Century France. It has great stuff like a prison break, hidden treasure, poisoning, and lots of intrigue. It ranks up with The Three Musketeers as
one of my favorite things to read when I was a kid. The book has been made into a movie many times with varying degrees of fidelity. This
latest version ranks high on the entertainment scale and low on faithfulness to the text. In other words, don't watch this if you're
cramming for a test on the book the next day.
James Caviezel plays the young and naive Edmond Dantes, a sailor who tries to find medical help for his Captain by landing on the interdicted isle of
Elba where Napolean is being held captive. Accompanying him is his best friend, Fernand Mondego (Guy Pierce). After a brief scuffle with the
British soldiers guarding the island, Dantes meets Napolean who agrees to treat the ailing Captain. Napolean also extracts a promise to Dantes to
deliver a sealed letter to a friend of his in Marseilles. In Marseilles, Dantes is rewarded for his initiative with a captaincy which will give him
enough income to finally wed his sweetheart Mercedes (Dagmara Dominczyk).
Of course, something has to go wrong. A conspiracy against Dantes is formed between Danglars, the first mate who felt entitled to that captaincy, his best friend Mondego,
jealous and angry that Mercedes is in love with Dantes, and Villefort (James Frain), the prosecutor of Marseilles who learns that Napolean's
letter is intended for Villefort's father, a damaging act of treason. Dantes, who somehow managed to make it to adulthood without learning about
the evil in men's hearts, falls into their trap and is sent off to Le Chateau D'If, a prison for political liabilities. In prison, he meets an
abbe and ex-Napoleonic soldier named Faria (Richard Harris) who mistakenly tunnels into Dantes cell. Faria teaches Dantes how to read and fight, and
provides him with a means of escape from prison. Faria also reveals the location of a large treasure on the Isle of Monte Cristo.
This island and the treasure gives Dantes his persona and the means for him to exact his
revenge on Danglars, Fernand, and Villefort.
That pretty much sums up most of the correct portions of the book.
The rest of the movie does sum up, in spirit, what happens in the rest of the book. However, it decides that the fun parts of Dumas's book, which
work well as a narrative, would take another movie to do it justice. Thus, in the second half of the movie, we get a gorgeous period piece with
sumptuous settings and costumes. The Count's "coming-out" party and the Roman Carnival were very memorable. There are also many funny moments,
many of which involved our favorite character, the Count's sidekick Jacabo, played by Luis Gusman. Believe me when I say that if you ever think you
need a sidekick to do something like get revenge on some people you will want *this* guy at your side.
I give The Count of Monte Cristo a 7 on the Good Movie Scale for a great script and a story with good energy as well as some
nice action choreography. I give it a 4 on the Bad Movie Scale for some odd plot and
dialogue bits that probably resulted from the abridging process. Go to see The Count of Monte Cristo if you're looking for a pleasant evening and
a very entertaining movie. I also recommend that you read the book if you haven't yet. One on-line version is here:
http://www.litrix.com/cristo/crist001.htm
Our Drive-In Totals:
6 dead bodies
0 breasts
1 gratuitous Blue Lagoon scene
1 piece of Super String
1 Helluva Entrance
1 Really Short Duel
13 Hellish Birthdays
A Running Quail
Counting Rocks
Naming Rocks
Whistle Envy
The Alternate and Abridged Revenge Plan
Ye Olde Sadistic Prison Warden
Ye Olde Duel to the Death
Poor Prison Procedures
Rat on a Stick
The Real Napoleon
King of the Moment
A Heated Situation
Best Sidekick Ever
1 Really Questionable Real Estate Purchase
Kung Fu
Knife Fu
Musket Fu
Pistol Fu
Sword Fu
Rock Fu
Whip Fu
Falling Rock Fu
Cane Fu
Steam Fu
Good Movie Scale: 7 out of 10
Bad Movie Scale: 4 out of 10
