‘Count of Monte Cristo’ is a sleeper or a sensation?

Janelle Silverman - Entertainment Beat

“The Count of Monte Cristo,” based on the book by Alexandre Dumas, was released to theaters on Jan. 25 as a hit-or-miss movie depending on the personality of the viewer.

Those who enjoyed Dumas’ other stories, such as “The Man in the Iron Mask” and “The Three Musketeers,” will thoroughly enjoy “The Count of Monte Cristo.”

Screenwriter Jay Wolpert attempts to fit the events of the classic novel into a 115-minute film.

Directed by Kevin Reynolds, the film casts Jim Caviezel, who also starred in “Frequency” and “Angel Eyes,” Dagmara Dominczyk, Guy Pearce, Richard Harris and Albie Woodington.

The story begins in the waters near France, where Edmond Dantes, played by Caviezel, and his best friend and shipmate Fernand, played by Pearce, stop at the island of Elba on their way back home to get help for their dying captain. On the island, they meet the exiled Napoleon Bonaparte who entices Dantes into delivering a treasonous letter to a comrade back in France. Dantes, naive and illiterate, takes the note with his promise to deliver it safely to Bonaparte’s friend in France.

When they reach France, Dantes is made captain of the ship and is now able to marry his beloved fiance, Mercedes. Fernand, jealous of Dantes’ fortunes, plots against him in order to steal his life for his own.

Dantes is accused of treason because of his attempt to deliver Napoleon’s letter and is sent off to the island prison of Chateau d’If. During his 16-year desolate incarceration, Fernand is free to live Dantes’s life, with his fiance and his fortune.

With the help of a priest also imprisoned on the island, Dantes learns everything about reading, writing and weaponry. As the priest teaches Dantes, they are both attempting an escape by digging an underground tunnel to the outside wall of the prison.

Years later, Dantes finally escapes with new knowledge and a map to the infamous treasure of the island of Monte Cristo.

With the help of his newfound friend, Dantes finds the treasure and sets out to destroy the lives of everyone who put him behind bars. He uses his fortune to become a wealthy noble and to make his way into the lives of those who betrayed him so many years ago.

In the end, Dantes gets his revenge more than he ever suspected.

There are mixed reviews about the movie; however, there are more good things to say than bad.

“You can count on snoozing,” said Lou Zumenick of the New York Post. However, the New York Times calls the film “…a refreshing piece of old-style entertainment,” and Roger Ebert calls it “so traditional it almost feels new.” According to Hollywood.com, this past weekend’s estimate was a box-office take of $9 million.

Although filled with good effects and an exciting plot, the reality of the story is sometimes forgotten. After Dantes’s escapes from his 16-year stay in prison, none of the characters seem to have aged a day.

Along with the seemingly endless scenes of sword, fist and gun fighting, an emotional side of the characters is brought out. Dantes is constantly grappling with his feeling of revenge and his everlasting love for his long lost fiance, Mercedes, now his best friend’s wife.
Highly entertaining, yet sometimes unrealistic, this film is for anyone who likes movies with adventure and sword fighting.