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The Count of Monte Cristo | 2002 | PG-13 | - 4.6.3

Adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' classic story of revenge, with James Caviezel as the young, dashing sailor who's betrayed by his best friend and is wrongly imprisoned for 13 years on a nightmarish island prison. He eventually escapes, finds a hidden treasure, and returns as a wealthy but embittered man who meticulously and ruthlessly destroys all who conspired to send him to prison. Also with Guy Pearce, Dagmara Dominczyk, Richard Harris and Luis Guzman. [2:04]

SEX/NUDITY 4 - A man and woman swim in the nude (we see their silhouettes from below and under the water) and we then see them lying on the beach kissing and presumably engaging in sex (we only see the man's bare back and shoulders). We see a man and woman in bed sleeping covered with sheets to the shoulders. A man and woman kiss passionately, a man kisses a woman's hand, a woman kisses a man, a man and woman kiss and hug, a young woman kisses a young man, and a man and woman embrace. A man tries to seduce a woman by touching her arm and asking her to come with him. We see a bare-chested man wrapped in a sheet in a sauna. Men's shirts drape open in a few scenes and part of their bare chests are exposed, a man's shirt is lifted exposing his bare chest and we see a shirtless man. Women wear dresses that expose some cleavage in many scenes.

VIOLENCE/GORE 6 - A man is hung by the hands and his back is whipped, and we hear him scream and moan; we see similar scenes repeatedly and see the man's blood-covered shirt, and once see the scars on his back. Two men duel with swords and one is stabbed through the heart (we see him fall to the ground with blood on his vest and shirt). Two men fight while in water and one is knocked out and left to drown. A man on horseback with a sword drawn charges at a man standing on the ground; the man on horseback falls off the horse and the men begin to fight with their fists, then they recover their swords and slash each other across the abdomen (we see some blood on their shirts). One throws a rock at the other, and one man is stabbed through the heart (we see some blood in his mouth and on his chest). A woman is shot in the shoulder, she falls to the ground and we see the bloody wound. Two men fight with swords; one man is slashed on the arm. During a fight, a man has a rope wrapped around his neck and he's pushed off the deck of a ship and dangles gasping for air and flailing. A man is held at swordpoint by another man and a sword fight begins: one man is slashed on the hand, one man grabs a sword by the blade and when it is pulled out of his hand he is cut, and one man runs through the house while fighting and he throws things on the floor breaking them. Two men are chased and fired upon by men on horseback and when they dismount they draw their swords and fight by punching and slashing -- several men are injured or killed. A man jabs his sword into a man's arm to determine if he is really in a coma (we see him pushing down hard on his sword, hear a crunch and then see the bloody wound). A man is covered by rocks when a tunnel begins to collapse on him, we see him die from his injuries and see him being stitched into a canvas bag and dragged out to a cliff where he'll be thrown into the sea. A man with a sword fights off several men; we don't see any injuries. Two men fight with knives, lunging and slashing at each other and one man is knocked to the ground. A man attacks two guards, shoves them off a pier into water. A man rides off while being chased by guards who shoot at him. A man ties a shirt around his neck and tries to hang himself. A man finds a gun, puts it in his mouth and pulls the trigger but the gun is not loaded. A man, tied into a canvas bag with chains and locks around his legs is tossed into the sea; he sinks under the surface and struggles to break free. A young man is attacked in a dark alley and the attackers threaten to cut off his finger if he doesn't pay. A man threatens a woman with a knife, a young man threatens a man with a sword, and a man threatens a group of people with a gun. A man cooks a rat on a stick. A man is arrested and dragged from his home by guards. Two men practice sword fighting with wooden sticks in several scenes; there is some contact, but no serious injury. A man is shoved into a shallow pool and verbally threatened. A man yells in anger and kicks over a table, and a man yells in anger and throws a pot into a mirror shattering it. We hear that an execution has been ordered, we hear that a man has hanged himself, and we hear that a man has been murdered (we see a flashback of the murder and watch the man being shot several times). We hear that a man is suffering from brain fever and is in a coma and we see the man lying motionless on a table (we see him again later as he is pronounced dead). We see a sheet-covered dead body being carried on a stretcher. A man has a bloody cheek, we see several people with rotten and discolored teeth, and there are many scenes depicting two men who are imprisoned and are shown to be filthy and grimy. A man looks ill, with gray-tinged skin and discolored teeth. A man appears terrified when part of the floor of his prison cell begins to rise, and crumbles.

LANGUAGE 3 - 1 scatological term, 4 mild obscenities, several insults, 17 religious exclamations. There are many references to God and a man's doubt of the existence of God.

SUBSTANCE USE - Characters are shown drinking alcohol in several scenes and sometimes appear to be inebriated.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Betrayal, treason, revenge, infidelity, gambling, repentance, illiteracy, greed, smuggling, mercy, forgiveness, cynicism, Napoleon Bonaparte, island prisons, finding God.

MESSAGE - In life we are all either kings or pawns. Revenge is a dish best served cold, however it never fully satisfies.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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