2002; 2 hrs 10 min.; Rated PG-13 for adventure violence/swordplay and some sensuality. Dir: Kevin Reynolds. Cast: Jim Caviezel (Edmond Dantes), Guy Pearce (Fernand Mondego), Dagmara Dominczyk (Mercedes), Richard Harris (Faria), Henry Cavill (Albert Mondego), James Frain (Villefort), Michael Wincott (Warden of Chateau D'If), Luis Guzman (Jacopo, the Count's servant).

It's time for a good old-fashioned revenge movie to fill a boring winter afternoon, when I'm in the mood for a popcorn flick rather than a serious, Oscar-worthy film. A guy can always use a couple of hours of period swashbuckling - and since I've neither read the book nor seen the countless films based on the 1844 tale by Alexandre Dumas, I'm still sure to be entertained and surprised.

Jim Caviezel (Frequency, The Thin Red Line) is the "King of the moment", taking the lead very well. He has a great cold streak while still maintaining the good guy image. It's a French story, so the good guy doesn't wear a white hat but a frilly red frock coat. Caviezel carries it well, though.

Beginning in 1814, except for early occurrences with an exiled Napoleon on the isle of Elba, The Count of Monte Cristo is set mostly in France (why do you think they have those crazy accents?!), when they were widely known for culture rather than today's cheese-eating surrender monkeys (only Homer reference, I promise) and for trashing McDonald's restaurants. It's a story of vengeance over a taken youth and being pulled from a woman (isn't it always?); a man who had his life trashed for nothing other than jealousy.

The sport comes from Caviezel's revenge. As the official site describes it: "If God will not give him justice, then Edmond Dantes will have it at any price."

Caviezel's babe is Dagmara Dominczyk, as Mercedes (like a classy guy as Caviezel would date a woman named Chevy?), and quite a babe at that. Heaving bosoms all over the place, Dominczyk has brunette locks you could run your fingers through for days at a time.

The biggest name in the cast, following critical acclaimed performances as the good guy in Memento and L.A. Confidential, Pearce enjoys being touched by evil. In Monte Cristo, he is a drunken womanizing louse, not to mention a really bad friend. Despite having the riches and titles, he can't manage to be happy and doesn't want some poor kid (Caviezel) to get everything good out of life through hard work and a good personality.

Richard Harris is a welcome sight, both for Caviezel and the audience. He plays a fellow prisoner with Caviezel, and becomes his mentor in the ways of the world, both educational and swordplay. His calm demeanor reflects a life of knowledge, and helps Caviezel and the viewer get a grip on the surroundings and events on screen.

Any other movie, I would criticize what happens in The Count of Monte Cristo as clich�, but since this is the original I instead deem it a classic, and take great joy in anticipating what I can already figure is going to happen. It's escapism at its finest, both literally and figuratively. The elaborate sets, colorful and frilly costumes and good characterization is an added plus.

Like other recent swashbuckling flicks, The Man in the Iron Mask and/or The Three Musketeers, it doesn't have to be the best film of the year, just filled with adventures and good clean fun by solid actors. And Monte Cristo delivers on all counts.