Retro Film Review: Restoration (1995)

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(source: tmdb.org)

History textbooks of Communist Yugoslavia claimed that England in mid 17th Century went through successful "bourgeoisie" revolution. Then the revolutionaries became careless and allowed evil monarchy to return and thus turn England into the backbone of world reactionaries in centuries to come. English in second half of 17th Century had somewhat different opinion - for them, the return of Stuart monarchs represented step in right direction after nearly two decades of strict Puritanical rule. Reign of Charles II, libertine but generally tolerant and benevolent monarch, became known as Restoration - one of the most dynamic periods of English history and time when morals were loose, people started enjoying life and arts, literature and science flourished like never before. Those interesting times represents setting for Restoration, 1995 period drama directed by Michael Hoffman.

The plot, based on the novel by Rose Tremain, deals with the adventures of Robert Merivel (played by Robert Downey Jr.), gifted young physician from London. Despite his progressive ideas and talent, Merivel's career goes nowhere because he happens to be too fond of drinking and whoring. But fortunate accident brings him to the court of Charles II (played by Sam Neill), desperate to find a physician who could cure his beloved spaniel. Merivel successfully conducts this task and gets hefty reward - knighthood, luxurious mansion and hand of Celia Clemence (played by Polly Walker), King's favourite mistress. The marriage is, however, a sham – King wants to spare Celia from the wrath of his other mistresses and expressly forbids Merivel to even think about consummating that union. Merivel, however, falls in love in Celia and when the King hears about those feelings young physician loses everything. Merivel finds shelter among his good friend and colleague John Pearce (played by David Thewlis), Quaker who runs lunatic asylum. There Merivel rediscovers his love for medicine and also falls in love with one of patients, mad Irish woman named Katherine (played by Meg Ryan).

Robert Downey Jr. is, despite all of his personal problems, one of the best actors in contemporary Hollywood. Restoration is another display of his abilities, most notably his handling of English accent (which sounds genuine, at least to the untrained ears). This achievement is even greater compared with those of his partner Meg Ryan who, just like most of American actors, can't handle any accent east of Irish Sea. Ryan's acting, on the other hand, is quite commendable and represents one of her better efforts from the period when she unsuccessfully tried to transcend her image of romantic comedy queen. The rest of the cast is also very good, especially David Thewlis in the role that represents anti-thesis of many menacing characters he had been playing in the earlier parts of his career. On the other hand, all this wonderful cast seems to be stuck in the film that doesn't use all of its potential. Rupert Walters' script shifts tone between comedy, melodrama and tragedy without ease and many events in the film are predictable, including main character's road to redemption. Restoration compensates blandness of the story with lush period detail, and it is almost beyond belief that such convincing reconstruction of 17th Century England was achieved for mere 18 million US$ of budget. Despite its flaws, Restoration proves that Hollywood can at times treat history in satisfying manner.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on May 16th 2003)

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