RESTORATION
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1996 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
RESTORATION is a lavish production by director Michael Hoffman (SOAPDISH and PROMISED LAND). It is a movie on an epic scale about a physician during the Restoration. In the opening credits we learn that it is the time in England of the restoration of Charles II's monarchy as well of scientific endeavors and of pleasure. It is a time when "a rich man can get to heaven" again. The Puritans would have never permitted it.
The movie has three distinct but related parts: the court, the Quakers, and the plague. Each has enough material to be a movie in its own right, but screenwriter Rupert Walters (using a novel by Rose Tremain) and editor Garth Craven have conspired to chop this all down to a movie of less than two hours in length. It felt as if it was a three and a half hour movie that the studio had ordered cut to a standard length for marketability. For whatever reason they did it, it makes for a choppy movie that is a delight to the senses, but leaves you wanting more that the movie delivers.
As the movie opens we see the hustle and bustle of seventeenth century London. As the camera lens draws closer we see its squalor. Robert Downey Jr. plays Robert Merivel who is a physician at the Royal Hospital. It is a sweatshop where they do not even have adequate time to eat, but at least they get to do medical research of a sort. Merivel is called by King Charles II (Sam Neill) to his court to save his pet spaniel. Once Merivel saves the dog, the king makes him a court physician and provides a life of luxury for him. The king trusts him so much that he tells Merivel to marry his mistress Celia Clemence (Polly Walker) because, "for her husband I need a man who is far too fond of women in general to love one in particular". We are to assume that Merivel is a great womanizer although to this point the movie has only touched on it, again reinforcing my theory that much film was left on the cutting room floor.
The real motivation for seeing RESTORATION is the production itself with sets by Eugenio Zanetti, costumes by James Acheson, and cinematography by Oliver Stapleton. From the first open shot of London with its golden earth tones and elaborate set reminiscent of a Brueghel painting, we sense that this picture will be special. My favorite cinematographic technique in the movie is the way light rushes in windows to bath the occupants of the room as if the light were the hand of god.
The opulence of the court is a stark contrast to the London streets. The wedding procession, for example, takes place on a manmade lake with a boat pulled by large artificial golden horses. All of the costumes by two time Academy Award winning (DANGEROUS LIAISONS and THE LAST EMPEROR) costume designer James Acheson are so elaborate that they border on being silly, but I found them effect. The contrast between the simple black physician's robe that Merivel has at the first to his court regalia of red robe and hat with large flowing red feathers let you know he has arrived.
Soon Merivel is made a Knight, and he and his wife are off to a great house near London where the king can visit, but Merivel is told that he is to be a husband in name only. The king commissions a painting by Elias Finn (Hugh Grant) of Lady Celia. You guessed it, the King hears that Merivel is sweet on Lady Celia and is angry saying, "Love was the only thing not asked of you. Indeed it was the only thing expressly forbidden of you."
In the second act, we have Merivel among the Quakers trying to be a physician again. He has to work with people with mental handicaps. There he meets Katherine (Meg Ryan) who has had a troubled past and may or may not be crazy. The Quaker solution to mental problems is to bleed the patients. This is done a bit too realistically for my taste. For some reason, Meg Ryan attempts a thick Irish accent whereas the other people have little noticeable accents. It is quite distracting.
In the final act, we have the plague. London is filled with bodies stacked everywhere and even floating down the river. We learn many interesting historical tidbits like when a plague strikes a building everyone in it is quarantined whether sick or not, which usually means they will all die. They also tie the sick to their beds to keep them from wandering the streets of infecting others. Merivel tells the people that, "Fear is our greatest enemy, and hope is our greatest weapon against the disease." No miracle drugs then.
I have just skimmed the surface of this tale. You can learn almost all of the above facts in the marvelous trailer for the movie. In fact the trailer is much better that the film itself. In the trailer the music (James Newton Howard) is heavy and dramatic, the energy level is high, and the images are so strong they have a spirituality. After seeing the trailer I almost expected to see something on the level of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. While watching RESTORATION I realized that I wished they would have just put the trailer on an endless loop and let me watch it for two hours. I liked RESTORATION, but I would have much preferred the trailer.
The problem with RESTORATION can be summed up in two words, poor direction. The compelling visuals are populated with a bunch of actors actresses plying their trade not viable characters. I found them all interesting, but never did I find them believable. When tragedy strikes in the show, I didn't care. I thought Sam Neill's performance to be the best of a mediocre lot. This is a shame since the actors and actresses are some of the best.
RESTORATION stops way too fast at 1:53. It is rated R for tame ogres, some sex, brief male and female nudity, and way too realistic medieval medical practices. It would be fine for any teenager. It is such an incredible exercise in style that I am glad I saw it so I give it a thumbs up and award it ** 1/2, but I felt cheated after seeing the trailers and knowing what could have been. Then again as Lady Celia says, "We live in an age when many are made fools and many are deceived."
**** = One of the top few films of this or any year. A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = One of the worst films of this or any year. Totally unbearable.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: January 26, 1996
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews