Movie Review - The Count of Monte Cristo
- Alex
I have to admit I had to temper my hopes when I went in to see this movie. It had plenty of good things
going for it - Guy Pearce, incredible in "Memento" and of course "L.A. Confidential"; Jim Caviezel, underrated
in "Frequency"; Richard Harris, a great character actor; and the story itself, a literary classic. However,
Hollywood has a way of spoiling good books.
The movie is a story of betrayal and revenge, pure and simple. Pearce's character betrays Caviezel's,
and the bulk of the movie outlines what happens to Caviezel as he's sent to prison, escapes, and assumes
the character of The Count of Monte Cristo to exact his revenge on all who were involved.
Guy Pearce (let's just get this out of the way right now, I'm a huge fan (sub-parenthetically, that doesn't
stop me from being leary of "The Time Machine", however. That movie just looks bad.)) shines in his role,
which basically involves being a jerk in every scene he's in. It's a bit one-sided, but he does the best with
the lines he's given. Jim Caviezel does a good job portraying an ignorant sailor who transforms himself into
an educated Count. Dagmara Dominczyk is solid as the film's love interest, and Richard Harris steals all of
his scenes as the Pastor who educates the young Caviezel.
All that said, the real star of this movie is Luis Guzman.
Guzman is fantastic as Jacopo, who befriends the Count after the Count saves his life. Jacopo is allegedly
an italian sailor, but don't let that fool you. He's straight up the Count's hispanic sidekick, and he plays
it to a T. Guzman delivers his lines perfectly, including a hilarious scene in which he suggests the Count should
simply let him go to Paris for a gangland-style hit to just get this revenge bit over with so they can start
living the good life. Sadly, the Count refuses to take this advice, but the advantage is several more scenes
with Jacopo. Guzman manages to look ridiculous dressed up as the Count's right-hand man, yet still be believable
as an accomplice to a revenge served cold indeed. High kudos to Luis Guzman in this role.
I won't detail the last half hour of the film, but it is quite well done, and doesn't resort to too saccharine
of a finish. Aside from the giggling over the Maestro Guzman while exiting the theater, the consensus among my
group was that of a good movie. For my part, I rate it a good solid 3-star movie (out of 4). Definitely worth
seeing on a matinee, if not for full price.
2/17/2002 - simpleprop.com
