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Parents' Guide to

The Count of Monte Cristo

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 12+

Enjoyable swashbuckler for kids who can handle the action.

Movie PG-13 2002 131 minutes
The Count of Monte Cristo Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 13+

Based on 7 parent reviews

K K.
K K. Parent of 8 and 10-year-old
September 4, 2019
age 9+

Great intro to the author Dumas

Love it! If your kids can handle Pirates of the Carribean or Hobbit or Harry Potter, they can handle this fun action costume drama that teaches the kids about Napoleanic times, politics, ethics, religion, the meaning of friendship, and the importance of education and discipline, and is an introductory to reading the author, Dumas', works.

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Great messages
1 person found this helpful.
Boyandgirlmom
Boyandgirlmom Parent of 12 and 13-year-old
January 26, 2018
age 12+

Awesome movie!

So my son who is 13 tried to read this book for fun on my recommendation because I remembered it as a really great story. He got too bogged down in the wordiness of it ( I had forgotten how cumbersome it actually is) and so he never got very far. Normally I would encourage him to finish reading but since he has plenty of stuff like that to read for school we watched the movie instead. It was really great, the acting was awesome and it captured the attention of both my son and my daughter who is 12. She is pretty sensitive about anything violent or sexy in movies and she loved it!! The story is a total classic, really intriguing and this version of the movie is very well done. Totally recommend. If you feel like the prison part starts to get a little long just hang in there, the movie moves pretty fast once he escapes. Could probably be ok for younger than 12 if they can follow a complicated plot. The only part that was a little rough for my daughter was when they whip him in prison but they don't show much and it's quick. Great for family movie night and they get to learn a classic at the same time. As far as great messages and what not, I mean it's a story of betrayal and revenge so maybe not so much there but for a good plot, go for it.
1 person found this helpful.
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What's the Story?

In this adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' novel, James Caviezel plays Edmund Dantes, an honest sailor who has a devoted girlfriend named Mercedes (Dagmara Dominczyk) and a lifelong friend, Fernand. When he is promoted to captain and can afford to marry Mercedes, he thinks all of his dreams have come true. But Fernand, overcome with jealousy, betrays Edmund, and Villefort (James Frain), a corrupt magistrate, sentences him to life imprisonment. His friends and family are told that he has been executed. After years of brutal abuse, Edmund meets another prisoner (Richard Harris), who teaches him to read and swordfight. They plan an escape, but his friend dies, and Edmund escapes alone, with a map showing the location of a treasure on the island of Monte Cristo. He meets up with pirates and ultimately finds the treasure, enabling him to return in a new persona, the Count of Monte Cristo, where he will prove that "revenge is a dish that is best eaten cold."

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (7 ):
Kids say (15 ):

Two things that almost always capture our attention in movies are watching someone learning something and watching someone getting revenge; both are here in gratifying abundance. And once again, in this 15th filmed version of the Alexandre Dumas novel, this most resilient of stories has been made into another thoroughly enjoyable movie.

The script falters, with some clunky dialogue and a Hollywood-ized ending that Dumas fans will find overly convenient. But the performances (especially Pearce, descending from pettiness to decadence and complete corruption), the swordplay, the splendor, and the story, featuring what is probably literature's all-time best revenge fantasy are old-time-movie satisfying and lots of fun.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the amount of violence in this movie. Did it include the right amount to be a proper swashbuckler, or did it go overboard? How do you feel after watching action-oriented violence?

  • Are you familiar with the book that inspired this movie? Do you know of any other stories that were inspired by it?

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