The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) A Fair Assessment

The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) Touchstone Pictures

Last night it was my girlfriends birthday, which means only one thing for the movie we were about to watch. It was going to be The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) because it is her favorite movie. I can’t say it is a poor choice for a favorite movie because it is based on one of the greatest books ever written and captures the book very well although there are some parts which are left out (on purpose which is what I get to later).

Before I get really started I have to mention that I have never seen the 1934 version of the film, so that will not be discussed. Maybe I will review it later this year… if I can find a copy of it.

Although movies never live up to the reputation of the book, it is important to point out that this version of the film was actually meant to be family friendly. It was green lit by Disney, but they realized it was going to be too violent to promote under the Disney banner (I wonder why they would have the impression of it possibly being “family friendly” after reading the book) so they released it under (Disney) Touchtone Pictures.

The sad part about the movie is that it was not received very well by the critics of the time. For instance, take metacritic.com which is considered to be an unbiased compilation from movie critics all over the country. As an amateur movie critic I can safely say that I risk absolutely nothing when I critique someone’s work and it is easy to disregard a film when it is lacking in many ways. This film was almost completely ignored at the time, but with good reason. There were several movies you may recall from 2002 such as: The Pianist, The Hours, Chicago, Gangs of New York, Road to Perdition, LOTR: The Two Towers, Adaptation (A Nicolas Cage film that wasn’t absolutely horrible), About Schmidt, Star Wars Episode II, Catch Me If You Can, and Minority Report just to name a few. I wouldn’t consider all of these films to be gems, but it would be easy to say that it was a great year in film considering some of the years that followed so it may have been easier for critics to write off the Count remake. I think it was pretty much forgotten due to the fact that there were so many other great films at the time. My theory is that it sullied the viewpoints of the critics into making a great film only seem mediocre, but it’s just a theory. Maybe they still hate it.

The saddest part about The Count of Monte Cristo is that this film in particular was not received well by critics and actually is a great film. Years later it is still interesting to watch and features great performances from famous actors you may have heard of such as: Richard Harris (Dumbledore (the good one)), Guy Pierce (historically exceptional bad guy extraordinaire), Jim Caviezel (the guy played Jesus… Jesus), and Henry Cavill (SUPERMAN (the alright one)).

I don’t rank The Count of Monte Cristo as one of the great films of all time, but I have to admit that there are more great lines in this film than the average film I have seen for the past decade (some of it was writer of the screen play and most of it was Dumas). The writing we are getting used to seeing in film has become shockingly worse over time and most of the dialogue in these movies has been replaced with special effects. The Count of Monte Cristo does not need them because it capably tells the tale of Edmond Dantes. There is no doubt by the end of the film that you are rooting for him to give up his lifelong journey of revenge and take back the woman that has never forgotten him. The best part about the character of Edmond is that he can’t stop until he finds out that Mercedes still loves him and Albert Mondego is his son. You have to respect a character bent on gaining the revenge that God never granted him. The guy spent his whole life and newly received fortune on planning a way to take down everyone who ever betrayed him. It’s a plot most of us just dream about doing in our minds when someone is being mean to us. Edmond eventually finds out that he has more than he ever dreamed of having and decides to hang up his revenge coat. This is a lesson for all of us to learn from. When we look around we actually have more than we think we do. It just can be perceived differently depending on time.  

In the book there are a lot of differences with the film, but this adaptation spares the desolation he leaves his enemies to in order to provide a more fulfilling ending. In yesterday’s post about the 101 Dalmatians I wrote about how the writing style was dated because it came from a different time. This version of the Count of Monte Cristo is the more updated version of the story stylistically because it leaves out the parts where Mercedes actually never ends up with Edmond at the end and that Albert really isn’t his son. It omits the parts where he leaves Villfort so destitute that by the end he has gone insane and is publicly ridiculed. As a smaller plot point it fails to mention that Dunglar got out of the shipping business and married into nobility.  Edmond and Fernand also never grew up as friends in the book, which would’ve made things a little different.

Now it comes full circle.

These items were left out because audiences are happier to know that everything works out for Edmond and Mercedes when in actuality it would be practically impossible for anyone to take her back under those same circumstances. Audiences love to see the relationships that only celluloid can provide because they show how love can overcome all. In real life that same statement is true, but to love that deeply is a concept that is practically fictional. In older writing styles they don’t put everything in a pretty little bow. In fact, older writing styles fail to even mention what has happened to a character when the book ends. The truth is that there is no resolve in these books. There is no conclusion. There is nothing like what we call an ending. They do it because it used to be more gratifying to guess the end of the situation rather than have it spelled out. It was like the ending to the Sopranos. It just ended. That is obviously not the case anymore. Could you imagine what would’ve happened if J.K. Rowling never provided an ending for what happened to Harry after he destroys Voldemort? There would be riots on the streets (and by streets I mean internet because people don’t riot like that anymore).

I don’t presume to be an expert on writing style, but I felt like it was at least a worthy observation. The Count of Monte Cristo really is a well written movie and deserves more accolades than it received.