Director: Kevin Reynolds
Writer(s): Alexandre Dumas Père (novel), Jay Wolpert (screenplay)
Category: Action / Adventure
MPAA: PG-13
Runtime: 131 min
Country: USA / UK
Language: English
Year: 2002
Tagline: Prepare for adventure. Count on revenge.
Plot: A beautifully photographed rekindling of the classic Alexandre Dumas story. Edmond Dantes’ (Jim Caviezel) life and plans to marry the beautiful Mercedes (Dagmara Dominczyk) are shattered when his best friend, Fernand (Guy Pearce), deceives him. After spending 13 miserable years in prison, Dantes escapes with the help of a fellow inmate (Richard Harris), cleverly insinuates himself into the French nobility and plots his revenge.
Review: Well, there’s one thing that’s hard to go wrong with and that’s a classic story. It’s hard to fault the plot, when it’s based on a renowned classic like Dumas’ The Count Of Monte Cristo, even if it is a simple revenge tale. Unfortunately, none of the acting rises above the page.
None of the leading men are quite manly. James Caviezel who plays Edmond Dantes and Guy Pearce, who plays Fernand Mondego both come across a little weak as swashbucklers. Caviezel tends to be a blank slate anyway, but I really liked Pearce in Memento, so I was a little disappointed to see his be such a weak character. You do dislike Fernand Mondego and want to see him meet his demise, but Pearce could have taken it much further and given Caviezel more distance to grow as a character. Richard Harris may have walked through this role, but he delivers the best performance of all the actors.
Overall, it’s a good Saturday movie if you want to watch some guys sword fight a little bit and not have to think to much.
My Rating: 
(3 out of 5 stars)
My IMDB Review: [link]