Alexandre Dumas might well be rolling in his grave. His Three
Musketeers have been mangled anew in any number of recent
films. The best of the worst -- Randall Wallace's Man in the Iron
Mask -- did its best to out-Dumas Dumas, even making D'Artangnan the father of both the future king of France and his evil
twin (no doubt if Dumas's staff of ghost writers had thunk of this
one, they'd have grabbed it!).
What does it take to make drama of melodrama here in the 21st
century? Well, oddly enough, it takes Kevin Reynolds, whose
reprehensible Robin Hood seemed to have been his curtain call.
Surprisingly, though, he proves as durable as Edmund Dantes,
emerging from his own private prison to produce a film which
takes up all the themes he so tediously misdirected those many
years ago.
Here we have character actors, character-driven story in the midst
of all plot entanglements, and Guy Pearce as a villain with tellingly
bad teeth. James Caviezel hits just the right nuances as a man
suddenly abducted from the very moment of his success, and
imprisoned in a remote fortress where the only way to tell the time
is by how many lashings you've had. Richard Harris is his
wonderful hermity best as the fellow prisoner who gives Dantes
back at least *some* of his faith, and once he's out, it doesn't take
him long to re-invent himself as the Count (the fast cuts here are
perhaps the film's only flaws).
His return is marvelously managed, complete with balloons and
fireworks, and revenge is sweet -- up to a point. His great lost
love, admirably portrayed by the relative newcomer Dagmara
Dominczyk, reminds him of himself before it is too late ... to say
any more would be to make this review a spoiler.
Other highlights include a delightful cameo by Freddie Jones,
whom many will remember at the Elephant Man's callous keeper
in David Lynch's film.
To be faithful, sometimes, one must be untrue -- never more
evident than in this film, which beautifully transmutes narrative
delight into narrative delight, still available a century and a half after
Dumas's own pots boiled it.
Musketeers have been mangled anew in any number of recent
films. The best of the worst -- Randall Wallace's Man in the Iron
Mask -- did its best to out-Dumas Dumas, even making D'Artangnan the father of both the future king of France and his evil
twin (no doubt if Dumas's staff of ghost writers had thunk of this
one, they'd have grabbed it!).
What does it take to make drama of melodrama here in the 21st
century? Well, oddly enough, it takes Kevin Reynolds, whose
reprehensible Robin Hood seemed to have been his curtain call.
Surprisingly, though, he proves as durable as Edmund Dantes,
emerging from his own private prison to produce a film which
takes up all the themes he so tediously misdirected those many
years ago.
Here we have character actors, character-driven story in the midst
of all plot entanglements, and Guy Pearce as a villain with tellingly
bad teeth. James Caviezel hits just the right nuances as a man
suddenly abducted from the very moment of his success, and
imprisoned in a remote fortress where the only way to tell the time
is by how many lashings you've had. Richard Harris is his
wonderful hermity best as the fellow prisoner who gives Dantes
back at least *some* of his faith, and once he's out, it doesn't take
him long to re-invent himself as the Count (the fast cuts here are
perhaps the film's only flaws).
His return is marvelously managed, complete with balloons and
fireworks, and revenge is sweet -- up to a point. His great lost
love, admirably portrayed by the relative newcomer Dagmara
Dominczyk, reminds him of himself before it is too late ... to say
any more would be to make this review a spoiler.
Other highlights include a delightful cameo by Freddie Jones,
whom many will remember at the Elephant Man's callous keeper
in David Lynch's film.
To be faithful, sometimes, one must be untrue -- never more
evident than in this film, which beautifully transmutes narrative
delight into narrative delight, still available a century and a half after
Dumas's own pots boiled it.