Restoration
by Michael Hoffman
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: David Thewlis, Meg Ryan, Polly Walker, Robert Downey Jr., Sam NeillDirector: Michael Hoffman
Producer: Andy Paterson
Producer: Bob Weinstein
Producer: Cary Brokaw
Producer: Donna Gigliotti
Producer: Garth Thomas
Writer: Rose Tremain
Writer: Rupert Walters
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: Letterbox, 1.85:1
Running Time: 117 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1999-08-03
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Miramax
Movie Reviews of Restoration
Movie Review: Restoration
Summary: 4 Stars
I enjoyed this movie, though it took a while before the film came to have any meaning or direction. At first this movie seems like it will be a raunchy, drunken, orgy film with the main character, Robert Merivel, gaining acceptance into the royal household of King Charles II of England. A physician, he saves the king's dog then becomes a drunken boor at court.
Chalres uses Robert for a dupe then Robert is cast out of court when he defies the king's wish. He ends up doctoring lunatics. It is at this point where the film takes on life. Eventually Robert's companion gives birth to a daughter then dies. Robert takes the daughter to London where the plague is ravaging. Then the fire of London happens. In the end, Robert is restored to some of his former acceptance at the court of the king again.
This film is a decent portrayal of restroation England, though this should not be confused with the film's title. Charles II is a supporting role, not the lead. We see Robert Merivel's rise and fall and restoration. Do not get history from films, the old saying goes. But if you like historical fiction, this film is worth a look.
Summary of Restoration
Meg Ryan (KATE AND LEOPOLD) and Robert Downey Jr. (WONDER BOYS) head a superb cast of stars in this stylish and provocative story of love, power, and seduction! Robert Merivel (Downey) is a young man who seems to have everything ... until a passionate affair leads to scandal, suddenly leaving him heartbroken and penniless. But it's only after losing it all that Merivel discovers who he really is and -- with the love of a beautiful woman (Ryan) -- becomes the man he never dreamed he could be! Also featuring Sam Neill (JURASSIC PARK) and Hugh Grant (NOTTING HILL), this critically acclaimed and entertaining motion picutre won two 1995 Academy Awards(R) for Best Achievement in Art Direction and Costume Design.A fantastic premise is utterly blown in this film by director Michael Hoffman and screenwriter Rupert Walters (the two collaborated previously on the winning Some Girls). Robert Downey Jr. plays Robert Merivel, King Charles II's (Sam Neill) spirited young physician in 17th-century England. The king offers to set Merivel up for life in exchange for one small favor: marry the royal mistress (Polly Walker) to provide his highness some cover for his philandering. But Merivel blows it by falling in love with the woman, and he is cast out of his pampered paradise to reinvent himself as a serious man helping victims of the plague beyond the palace's walls. It's a superb notion, and the film looks just terrific, particularly Charles's court, where scientific and artistic innovation flourishes. But somehow the story completely falls apart once Merivel goes on his quest for salvation. The scenes aren't there, the characters are underdeveloped, the drama is clunky. The whole enterprise feels as if an editor tried to salvage a major failure and barely came up with something coherent. --Tom Keogh
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