The Count of Monte Cristo: Movie, DVD Review (2009)

Directed by Kevin Reynolds, written by Jay Wolpert, 110 minutes, rated PG-13.

For adventure fans, Kevin Reynolds' "The Count of Monte Cristo" has it all--romance, betrayal, a daring escape, sudden wealth, terrific action and swordplay--and a beautifully executed set-up for revenge that leaves a satisfying mark on screen.

The film, which Jay Wolpert adapted from Alexandre Dumas' much-filmed 1844 novel, stars James Caviezel as Edmond Dantes, a naive, up-and-coming sailor whose love affair with the buxom Mercedes (Dagmara Dominszyk) is such a sticking point with his jealous friend Fernand de Mondego (Guy Pearce), Mondego doesn't hesitate to burn Dantes with a false treason charge when the opportunity presents itself.

Now locked away in an Alcatraz-like prison on the Chateau d'If, Dantes spends the next 14 years questioning his relationship with God, hardening his soul--and then tunneling his way to freedom while also planning his revenge.

He does so with the help of Abbe Faria (Richard Harris), a fellow prisoner whose friendship, influence and hidden treasure ultimately transform Dantes into the Count of Monte Cristo--a man whose revenge will be especially significant when he learns that Mondego has since married Mercedes and fathered their child.

With Luis Guzman as Dantes' loyal servant Jacopo, a piggish man Dantes won in a fight, "The Count of Monte Cristo" isn't the definitive version of Dumas' novel --that belongs to Rowland Lee's 1934 movie--but it's solid.

Throughout, there's the sense that the failures of Reynolds' past (he directed "Waterworld") and the lowered expectations he enjoys in the present, might have freed him to make a good movie. Under his direction, Caviezel, in particular, is especially good, finally exchanging the brain-dead brand of acting that has defined so many of his previous performances with an energy and a charisma that become the soul of the movie.

Grade: B+

View the trailer here: