The Count of Monte Cristo

Debbi's been sick this week - she has either a cold or a little touch of the flu, I'm not sure which. She stayed home from work yesterday, but I said I'd be happy to have her come down to visit for the weekend. Indeed, she said she'd be up for going to see a movie with me, so we went to the second-run theatre to see The Count of Monte Cristo (2002), which I'd been wanting to see for a while.

An adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' novel (which I have not read), its hero is Edmond Dantes (James Caviezel), second officer on a private ship which one night puts in at Elba, where Napoleon is being held by the British, in order to treat the ship's sick captain. Napoleon gives Edmond a letter to deliver to a friend. Returning to Marseilles, we meet Edmond's beloved, Mercedes (Dagmara Dominczyk), and learn that his best friend, Fernand Montego (Guy Pierce), also loves Mercedes and envies Edmond his life. In cahoots with the ship's first officer, Fernand betrays Montego to the authorities, and Monsieur de Villefort (James Frain) sends Edmond to the Chateau D'If to be forever imprisoned.

There, Edmond spends over a decade in prison, meeting an aged priest (Richard Harris) also imprisoned there. They plot their escape, but along the way the priest educates Edmond and gives him the knowledge - once he escapes - to becomes a very wealthy man. Of course Edmond escapes, and transforms himself into the mysterious and exotic Count of Monte Cristo to exact revenge on those who betrayed him.

This is a fun and exciting film whose excellent acting (especially by Pierce, who's becoming a favorite of mine based on his performance here and in Memento and L.A. Confidential) seems almost a footnote to the film as a whole. The sets and the location shots are both superb and often beautiful. The script perhaps doesn't crackle as much as it might, though the lines spoken by some of the film's less savory characters are often entertaining. In particular, Edmond's manservant, Jacopo (Luis Guzman), gets many of the best lines, seems perfectly cast, and serves as Edmond's conscience during his quest for revenge. (Why yes, there is honor among thieves!)

Tightly plotted, everything is explained at the end. Fernand's motivations are of course obvious, but the behaviors of Mercedes and de Villefort are also explained and make perfect sense. It's a neat little puzzle for Edmond to solve.

The film's greatest flaw is its dubious moral compass, as both the priest and Jacopo suggest that Edmond is wrong to choose his course of revenge, but there's no karmic payoff for his decision; quite the opposite, in fact.

Count is a fun film. I have the impression that Edmond's masquerade as the Count is gone into in much greater depth in the novel - it's largely only suggested here. Edmond's transformation feels like the origin story for a comic book superhero - no doubt one of the sources from which such stories spring. You're in for a treat with this film.

Saturday Debbi was not feeling a lot better. I'd cooked us dinner the night before, and my cow-orker Robert and his wife Christine came over around noon to pick up some boxes (which I'd originally gotten from them!) so they can give them to Robert's sister who is moving herself. We all went out to lunch (Thai food on Castro Street) and had a good time chatting.

When we got back, though, Debbi was conked out. I spent the afternoon listening to baseball games and doing a modicum of work in the garden, but mostly preparing for my fantasy baseball draft (which is tomorrow). Debbi was surprised when she woke up at 5:30 and had been asleep for two hours. I cooked her dinner again (some steaks I'd bought) and we went to Borrone for dessert and to read, where I finished Nicola Griffith's novel Slow River. Then Debbi faded quickly, so we came home and she went to bed while I stayed up late to finish my preparation for the draft.

Fortunately, I remembered to turn the clocks forward so I wouldn't be late.