Dashing young sailor Edmond Dantes (Jim Caviezel) is a guileless and honest young man whose peaceful life and plans to marry the beautiful Mercedes (Dagmara Dominczyk) are abruptly shattered when his best friend Fernand (Guy Pearce), who wants Mercedes for himself, deceives him.
Set up to be unlawfully sentenced to the infamous island prison of Chateau D'If, Edmond is trapped in a nightmare that lasts for thirteen years. Haunted by the baffling course his life has taken, over time everything he ever believed about right and wrong is abandoned and replaced by all-consuming thoughts of vengeance against those who betrayed him. With the help of an equally innocent fellow inmate, Faria (Richard Harris), Dantes plots and succeeds in his mission to escape from prison, whereupon he transforms himself into the mysterious and wealthy count of Monte Cristo. With cunning ruthlessness, he cleverly insinuates himself into the French nobility and systematically destroys the men who manipulated and enslaved him.
Special Agent Matti
Swashbuckle!
If you're trying to learn about The Count of Monte Cristo for school then this movie will fill you in on the parts you most need to know. You'll also have fun watching the sword fighting (if that's your thing) which is easily better than The musketeer, made just a few months before The Count.
The babe factor is more mature in this film (Jim Caviezel, Dagmara Dominczyk and Guy Pearce) but there's still a boy babe in the form of Edmond and Mercedes' son although he's not on screen for much of the film. Jim is surprisingly good as the script is a little lightweight: he brings Edmond to life such that you always know the torment he suffers. Guy is such an absolute prick that you wonder how the two were ever friends let alone the best of friends. Dagmara is a suitably sexy prize for the lucky winner of the swordplay.
What you get with The Count of Monte Cristo is a good, old-fashioned story about people wanting what they don't deserve and going through hell to try and get it. The goody and the baddy are clear-cut but there is a plethora of people who could fall into either category, while the road to Hell is busily being paved with their good intentions. Alexandre Dumas' novel is obviously thinned out to fit a 2-hour Hollywood film but the anguished heart of Edmond Dantes still remains. Enjoy.
M (Medium level violence)
131 minutes (2:11 hours)
Film: 2 May 2002
DVD rental: 20 November 2002
VHS rental: 20 November 2002
DVD retail: 30 April 2003
VHS retail: 30 April 2003
DVD retail: 10 November 2004 - Double pack