The Count of Monte Cristo

There have been an awful lot of movie adaptations of the novels of Alexandre Dumas, and this is certainly not the most awful of them all.

It cares as much − or possibly even less − for historical realism as Pirates of the Caribbean. That director Kevin Reynolds had a hand in movies like Red Dawn, Waterworld and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves should remind us that he isn't accustomed to adding much depth to his material.

James Caveziel returns to his stock role as charismatic otherworldly innocent, but this time learns the eighteenth century equivalent of Kung Fu from the Abbé Faria (Richard Harris) whose head appears one day through the tiles in the floor of Edmond's cell in the Chateau d'If.

In terms of pacing and structure it's rather like an Italian opera − except without the music to amplify your emotional responses. As a boy I used to watch a cartoon version of this yarn, but had forgotten enough of the synopsis to make this an entertaining enough way of becoming reacquainted with it.