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rachelcarey
Reviews
Mary, Mary (1963)
a forgotten pleasure -- a witty little romantic comedy
I'm very fond of this film. Debbie Reynolds stars as a woman trying to settle the final details of her divorce from her husband -- a man she's separated from, but with whom she still has great chemistry. Their potential reconciliation gets both hampered and facilitated by the husband's new girlfriend, an attractive society girl, and by a handsome actor who takes a fancy to Debbie. In certain ways this is a slight movie -- like a play, it's all talk, not much action -- but the wit and charm of the actors make it a lot of fun. It's an intelligent, bubbly little romantic comedy; I'd recommend it to anyone who likes that genre.
The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)
a heavy-handed cheese-fest with some good performances
Wrongfully thrown in prison for many years, Edmond Dantes escapes -- finds fabulous wealth -- and has changed so much in appearance that he is unrecognizable to those he wishes to get revenge on. This is one of the greatest revenge stories ever written. How could a filmmaker go wrong? Lots of ways, apparently. The casting was fine -- Jim Caviezel and Guy Pierce were very good, although the actress playing the love interest, Mercedes, was simply a pretty face. But most of the additions and changes from the book (an old favorite of mine) were heavy-handed and served to make the story both more obvious and a lot less fun -- such as the added religious overtones which were badly handled, and the added sex scenes which were abominable and pointless. Dramatic storytelling skills more or less fell to the wayside, apparently, when this was put together. A shame. The basic story is so good that the audience couldn't help but be thrilled by parts of it, but it was still a shadow of the film that a more intelligent writer or director could have made.