FILM CRITIQUE:
I went to see "The Count of Monte Cristo" prepared not to like it. I have to admit that my low expectations were not rewarded, for this movie is a fun swashbuckler through and through. Sort of like a winter edition of the earlier summer movies like "The Mummy" and "The Mark of Zorro," where Hollywood has taken out a new leaf on the hoary cinematic franchises of old, spiffed them up by adding new technology and the hot male leads of the day, and then sent them out on the multiplex road.

For me the definitive movie about the famous Alexandre Dumas' novel of that name is the magnificent, I would even dare call it awe-inspiring, 1998 French television mini-series version starring Gerard Depardieu. This mini-series broke all records for French viewers in an almost seven hour version which faithfully transcribes the novel to the screen with superb acting accompanied by a hauntingly melodic musical score. Of course, that version is in French with English subtitles, something that most American viewers will not tolerate.

This 2002 version of "The Count of Monte Cristo" pushes the number of films and television productions based on the novel to more than 30. While Dumas receives the writing credits for the novel, this movie with the screenplay written by Jay Wolpert only faintly resembles the book. Rather than the movie being "based on" the novel, I would expect to see the movie screenplay being "inspired by" the novel. The names are the same, but the story line only faintly resembles the original.

Admittedly, James Caviezel more than carries this movie as first the wronged sailor, Edmund Dantes, and then the wrathful avenger, the Count of Monte Cristo. This is sure to be an action breakout role for Caviezel, who has earlier had small starring roles in "Ed"(1996), "The Rock"(1996), "The Thin Red Line"(1998), "Frequency"(2000), "Pay It Forward"(2000), "Madison"(2000), and "Angel Eyes"(2001). He goes from the wide-eyed innocence of the young sailor to the angry Count bent on revenge with equal aplomb and conviction.

All of the roles in "The Count of Monte Cristo" are well done, but special notice has to be made of Caviezel as both Dantes and the Count. Guy Pierce is also convincingly evil as the corrupt, slimy, amoral and immoral Fernand Mondego. Pierce sneers and oozes his way through the movie in a most delightful, over the top, performance.

And what a delight to see Richard Harris again as the equally unjustly imprisoned Abbe who takes Dantes under his wing. This guy is showing up everywhere in movies today as the respected elder gentleman du jour.

Finally, I have never heard of or seen the actress who plays Mercedes, Dagmara Dominczik, before this movie, but I am sure that she will show up often in the future as she is absolutely lovely and entirely convincing as the lovelorn fiancé who believes her beloved Edmund to be dead. We may not be able to spell her name, but who can forget her performance in this movie?

So there you have it. You can go to see a contemporary action movie and be entertained. "The Count of Monte Cristo" is a fun movie of the action, swashbuckler genre that offers an entertaining evening at the cinema similar to the types of movies we have to wait until the summer to see. But don't expect to see any faithfulness to the original novel.

However, if you can't get out to the theater, OR if you love the Dumas novel and want to see the very best four star(****) rendition of it currently available, then, by all means, PLEASE rent the DVD version of the 1998 6 hour French mini series starring Gerard Depardieu.

Be prepared to be awed by one of the most powerful films ever brought to the small screen as this Depardieu film is one of the most riveting movies that I have ever seen. It's long, lovingly long, but well worth the time and the effort. Break it down into smaller viewing segments. But be forewarned that once you get into this version, watching anything else will pale in comparison, including this modestly enjoyable 2002 remake.

Yes, the 1998 French mini series version is that good.
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FILM SYNOPSIS:
The faithful, ever trusting, Edmund Dantes will do anything to save the life of the captain of his ship, including stopping off at the Isle of Elba where a garrison of British soldiers is on duty guarding the prisoner, Napoleon. The guards have instructions to shoot any intruders on sight, but Dantes and the members of his crew manage to allay their fears and their rifle shots and obtain badly needed medical attention for their captain.

The sly Napoleon gets the trusting Dantes to carry a letter back to an associate of his named Clarion in Marseilles. He swears to Dantes that the letter of is no political importance whatsoever and Dantes, to his later everlasting regret, believes him. Observing all of this from a shadowy distance is another member of the ship's crew, the nobly-born Fernand Mondego, who is Dantes "best friend" and the banker of the ship's contents who happens to be along for the ride.

Back in Marseilles Dantes earns the joy and the gratitude of the ship's owner, the fatherly Morrel, for taking the actions he did in his albeit futile attempt to save the life of his captain. Morrel then promotes Dantes to captain, which immediately earns him the enmity of Danglars. He is the ship's first mate, and he had also hoped for that same promotion as he is now the ship's surviving senior officer.

Edmund has a loving reunion with his elderly father and a joyfully romantic reunion with his beautiful fiancé, Mercedes, whom he can now wed with his new income as a captain. Eyeing their loving reunion is the envious and jealous Mondego, who also has coveted the attentions of Mercedes for many years. She, however, sees through him and knows him to be possessive, selfish, and only interested in her as another conquest.

During a quiet dinner at home with his father and Mercedes, the house is thrown into an uproar with the arrival of soldiers to arrest Dantes for carrying Napoleonic contraband from Elba. Fleeing to Mondego's lavish estate, he discovers his friend's true intentions when Mondego surrenders Dantes to the authorities.

Mondego wants Dantes out of the way so that he can have Mercedes. Danglars wants Dantes out of the way so he can have the command of Morrel's ship. And Villefort, the corrupt prosecutor who had sent the soldiers after Dantes, also wants him out of the way because Mondego has secretly read the contents of the letter which have told Villefort that they concern an illegal conspiracy between Napoleon and a gentleman known as Clarion.

Clarion just happens to be Villefort's Bonapartist father, and his career as a prosecutor would be ruined if the news of this letter from Napoleon to his father leaked out.

So this evil trinity teams up, all for their own selfish and corrupt purposes, with the result that poor Edmund Dantes ends up condemned to the offshore prison, Chateau D'If, from which there is no escape and no appeal.

After years of hopeless and brutal incarceration, his life dramatically changes for the better with the unexpected arrival of Abbe Faria accidentally tunneling into his prison cell. The Abbe has mistakenly tunneled in thinking that it was the outside wall of the prison. The Abbe takes the much younger Dantes under his wing and teaches him how to be a gentleman, how to have patience, and how to tunnel out together.

As luck, good or bad, would have it, Abbe Faria dies while still in prison and Dantes substitutes his body for the Abbe's and is then thrown over the cliff into the sea. From there he escapes the funeral wrapping and is rescued by fisherman and eventually makes his way to the Island of Monte Cristo off the coast of Italy.

It is not long before he has discovered the Abbe's hidden wealth, set himself up as the mysterious and fabulously wealthy Count of Monte Cristo, and now he is able to exact his revenge upon the three men who have conspired together to have him unjustly condemned to death in the hellhole of the prison that is the Chateau D'If.