Movie Crush Monday: Little C and The Three Musketeers

Last week, if you'll recall, CT talked about the wonderful movie Chocolat. As has become our routine, I was immediately filled with a jealous rage that I didn't get to it first, followed by a haze of "What the Hell am I going to write about this week?" I scanned the cast list and then had a small laugh. I knew what I was going to write about. It was not an obvious choice, but the right one... Hugh O'Connor who play the priest in Chocolat also plays King Louis in:

The Three Musketeers (1993)

I love the novel. And you would think with how much I love it (And most other Andre Dumas works) I would be furious with any adaptation that refuses to stick to the plot. But such is the magic of childhood, because watching this movie and loving it when I was 5 or 6 is what pushed me as a teenager to read the book. And yes the book is better, but the movie is way more fun. Andre Dumas was a bit of a downer in his adventure stories. They were thrilling and engaging but rarely fun. This movie took the basic plot of Dumas' book and added comedy and romance while neatly trimming away some of the soul crushing unfairness that Dumas liked to wallow in. 

Oliver Platt only wallows in how wonderful he is...

The characters, and more importantly the actors were having a freakin blast in this movie. Keifer Sutherland is broody but with a sort of wink at the camera about it, Charlie Sheen is... well essentially himself with a cross, and love of my life Tim Curry chews the scenery in the most delightful way as the villainous cardinal Richelieu. The dialogue and performances are half the reason to watch this movie. More importantly, and I can't stress this enough, everyone was in agreement as to what kind of movie they were in. Nothing sucks the fun out of a family adventure (*cough*Pan*cough*) faster than one of the main actors (*cough*Hedlund/Mara*cough*) taking the movie waaay to seriously. There is a really precise feel or tone you have to hit with these movies where they are fun but without skating into being over the top or confused. 

Okay, a little over the top is fine. As long as it's Paul McGann

I hadn't watched this movie in a long time until the other day when we had no internet and I needed something on that I know really well so I could clean and watch at the same time. I found myself not cleaning nearly as much as I had planned because I got sucked back in again. There are times when I can critically watch a two hour German film and see the technique and mastery that went into it. But movies are escapism. And sometimes the times I want to escape to are filled with perfectly coordinated sword fights where the good guys never get seriously hurt, and they always have the perfect one-liner for the bad guys (Who always wear black). 

Happy watching

Little C