The Count of Monte Cristo: As a stand alone, 3 hour or so entertainment, this movie is fantastic. It moves along. It tells a (the) gripping story, perhaps the greatest story of them all, in a way that connects. It's a ravishing production, the performances are uniformly solid.
So: on the one hand this film is a solid A, and it's one of the best films of 2024 in terms of storytelling.
On the other hand:
The Count is one of the greatest novels of all time, if not THE greatest. I first encountered it when I was in the middle of getting my grad school MA in lit. However, we were assigned an abridged edition, which i consumed and loved. And I promised myself that one day i would break out one of the more highly regarded unabridged translations and revisit this. It took me a dozen years or so, but I did get back to it and it was really then, on that second reading of the unabridged, that the novel became one of my all time favorites. I mean, it really packs a wallop. It's an emotional bulldozer. It's got so many balls in the air, you're mesmerized at the genius of the juggler. And it all comes off at the end, and you're just wiped out from it all.
My point is, this story is BIG. I mean Proustian big. War and Peace big. Infinite Jest big. If you're a reader, you know what I mean. And this story has lots of fans. Take my word for it. Or search reddit as one example, and I think you can find multiple pages solely about that story. That gives you an idea of how popular it is.
For the purists out there that love this story with all their hearts, this version again cuts out so much stuff, and plays with one of the major, MAJOR parts of the ending, the purists and going to be extremely disappointed with the film. I get that; from that perspective I was disappointed it with it too. That's why I'm giving it an A-.
At the end of the day, I just appreciate that people are out there doing their best to tell this story. It's a staggeringly human tale, the ultimate story of love, tragedy, and how people CHANGE. It's such a great story.
Don't be intimidated by the size of the book. Sometimes you just make the adjustment to what your going to get read over a certain amount of time. It's the equivalent of reading 4-5 decent sized novels. It's that big a book. But it's worth it. The book doesn't have the reputation it has by accident. It's been copied, ripped off, and made into an endless number of adaptations for a reason. If you haven't read it, and found this movie interesting or moving, give that book a try. It's really something. But watch this version and accept it for what it is, and I believe it can be heartily enjoyed and be found to be quite powerful and moving.