Inborn into each one of us, it seems, is an innate sense of justice and fair play. Those of us who have raised children know that we did not have to teach them the declaration, "It’s not fair!". It seemed to erupt naturally from them the moment one felt that a sibling was somehow getting something better. As we mature, this sense refines for most of us into a strong desire to see things made "right", at least according to our own personal view of "right." From the loftiest cleric down to the most unscrupulous criminal, all have a certain drive to set perceived wrongs right, skewed though that may be by each of our personal biases. It is from this innate sense, I believe, that much of the popularity of certain movies derives. Each day, we feel a frustration from those around us who "beat the system". Criminals either "get off" on a technicality, or else serve only a portion of seemingly lenient sentences. Foolish people file law suits and receive huge compensation for their own stupidity. Decent, caring people die young while violent and selfish people live to ripe old ages. In the midst of all this "injustice", we escape to movies wherein the criminals receive their "comeuppance" and the victims find satisfaction. Such is a common theme in the works of Alexandre Dumas. In recent years, we have had a new crop of movies based on Dumas’ books. "The Three Musketeers", "The Man In The Iron Mask", and most recently, "The Count of Monte Cristo", all tend to deal with the concepts of the innocent betrayed and eventually avenged. Dumas himself was the grandson of a Haitian slave. His "mulatto" father, however rose through the ranks of the French Army to the rank of general, leaving to Alexandre a certain "noble" heritage to go with the "common" heritage of his grandfather. It is from this background that we gain insight into Dumas’ ability to empathize with both the common class as well as the nobility. This also adds insight to the theme that recurs in some of Dumas’ works of "noble" being more a product of one’s character rather than of one’s blood. This theme is quite pronounced in "The Count of Monte Cristo", currently in theaters Nationwide. The hero of the story, Edmund Dantes (played by James Caviezel), is the son of a common clerk. Early in the movie, we learn that he has advanced through the ranks on board ship to being within reach of captaining his own vessel. He is engaged to a lovely young woman, Mercedes (Dagmara Dominiczyk), whom he will marry when he achieves the captaincy, and is the best friend to the son of a count, Fernand Mondego (Guy Pearce). I would not be spoiling any big surprises to mention that this friendship is strained by Fernand’s dissatisfaction with his own life and his jealousy of Edmund’s contentment. It is this coveting which leads to the pivotal betrayal in the story, sending young Edmund off to an island prison for treason, and a letter to Mercedes reporting his execution for this crime. While in this prison, Edmund meets a former soldier turned priest (Richard Harris) who helps him escape, but not before educating him in the things a noble should know, including various methods of fighting. Before his own death, the priest reveals to Edmund the location of a lost treasure, exhorting him to not use the treasure for revenge, but rather for good. Despite the priest’s exhortation, Edmund takes the knowledge and wealth given to him by the priest and formulates a plan to avenge himself on those who betrayed him. "The Count of Monte Cristo" is rated PG-13 for mild violence and mild sexual themes. Holding to the more classic style of such movies, the fighting is somewhat underplayed in favor of the more important tension between the characters. The fight scenes tend to be resolved rather quickly by today’s standards, with a minimum of blood and gore shown. We are given the information of Edmund’s intimacy with Mercedes in the more subtle method, rather than a gratuitous love scene that leaves little to the imagination. To my recollection, the movie was devoid as well of "bad language". This is a movie that few parents would find anything objectionable to expose their children to, though the subtle plot devices may fail to hold the attention of younger children. Do not mistake "The Count of Monte Cristo" for an "action flick"; the story relies on the plotting and the conspiracies to hold the audience. The acting in the movie maintains the credibility of the story, and the lack of "big names" (save Richard Harris) has not robbed the production of its value. The settings of the scenes manage to take us from the opulence of the noble houses to the hopelessness of the neglected prison without appearing to overstate either. One admonition would be to pay attention to seemingly insignificant comments made by characters early in the movie. Often, these are clues, or keys, to something that will develop later on. Since Disney had their hand in this production, I can be glad that they did not decide to do with it as they did with Hugo’s "Hunchback of Notre Dame". Though I have not yet read the Dumas book, the movie plays as a serious telling of the story, rather than a childish bastardization of a classic (sorry . . . one of my pet peeves is the ignoring of great children’s stories to instead ruin some classic story by trying to make it a children’s story). Truthfully, I found little in this movie that I disliked, and anticipate this being one that will be added to our video collection when it’s released.

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