OxfordPress.com

Grade: B

Verdict: Fine escapism (sometimes literally).

Details: Starring Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce and Richard Harris. Directed by Kevin Reynolds. Rated PG-13 for violence, language and suggested sex scenes. 2 hours.

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Review: Full disclosure upfront: I'm a sucker for stuff with frock coats and sword duels and hairbreadth escapes and men in brocade vests attending parties at places that look like Versailles. Only fancier.

Blame it on my frustrated inner-swashbuckler, but a movie with these elements has to be pretty much beyond abyssmal for me to give it a hard time.

Which is probably why I had a good time at "The Count of Monte Cristo," the umpteenth version of Alexandre Dumas' classic 1844 novel. Granted, director Kevin Reynolds ("Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves") is less interested in passing along what makes the novel such an enduring work than he is in its 19th-century pulp-fiction aspects. But we could all use a rousing, unadorned (i.e., no martial arts) adventure every now and then.

The plot, for those who may not know the book, centers on Edmond Dantes (Jim Caviezel), a simple, uneducated straight-arrow seaman. Things look good for him. He's just been named the captain of his boss' ship and he's about to marry his pretty fiancée, Mercedes (Dagmara Dominczyk).

Then an unfortunate collision of upper-level politics and jealousy lands him in the impregnable Chateau D'If, from whence there is no escape. But guess who's also a prisoner? None other than good ol' Professor Dumbledore — I mean, Richard Harris. The abbe agrees to teach Edmond everything from Socrates to swordplay if Edmond will help him dig an escape tunnel.

One thing leads to another and another and thus is born the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo, a man with a seeminlgy endless supply of money. And an endless desire for revenge.

Caviezel ("The Thin Red Line") makes a fine period hero. He wears the clothes well, and he wears the attitude (for lack of a better word) well. Not every actor can do this (check out Hilary Swank in "The Affair of the Necklace").

Guy Pearce who plays Edmond's treacherous pal, Fernand, gets off to a rockier start. At first he seems too modern for the role. Maybe it's a "Memento" hang-over. But he grows as the movie goes along and comes off as sleekly villainous. Harris does his usual Harris — all fluttering hands and aphorisms. But no one does it better.

Purists may be bothered by the departures from the book or by the very 21st-century quips (at times Edmond and Fernand sound like the cast of "Friends"). Still, it's such a good story. certainly good enough to deserve a good week or two at the box office.

— Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, (none)