Long literary wannabe `Restoration' plays like a racy 17th-century British version of `Gone with the Wind'
Restoration is a film that tries to be literary. It presents us with images, contrasts and metaphors that one could hope to find in a good work of literature. But the presentation is only mildly entertaining, and watching it feels like more of an assignment than a leisure activity.
Restoration takes place in 17th- century London at the start of the reign of Charles II. This era of restoration, the movie explains, is one of science, reason and, above all, sensuality.
And the central character of the film, a young doctor named Robert Merivel (Robert Downey Jr.), partakes quite freely of the sensuality part. When he's not working at the hospital, he's out spending his father's money on wine, women and song.
But he's an able doctor, and the king (Sam Neill) calls upon him to be his court physician. Merivel's life of pleasure is taken to a royal level, at least until he finds out what the king really wants of him -- to marry his uppity mistress, Celia (Polly Walker). But it is a marriage in name only. Merivel must try to get her to submit quietly to the king. The only requirement: Merivel most not fall in love with Celia.
Well, now we can see where that's going. After he falls from royal grace when his affections for Celia are discovered, he's left with virtually nothing. The rest of the movie traces his gradual spiritual and material restoration. During his journey, he works in a house quarantined by the plague and a mental hospital run by Quakers, thus regaining the skills and confidence he had lost.
Also in the movie are Meg Ryan as an Irish woman who's kept in the mental hospital and Hugh Grant as a stuffy court painter.
This movie tries very hard to get its message across with visual images. The posh decor in which Merivel lives during his period of favor with the King contrasts strongly with the poor setting he lives in after his fall. However, the lavish settings just aren't all that amazing.
And that's true of a lot of things in this film; there just aren't enough of them to have their effect. Besides the fall-flat decor, there's just not enough exposition for us to really get a sense of Merivel. And a lot of his debauchery is seen only second-hand; we don't see him cavorting enough to think that this guy is really a drunken womanizer.
Perhaps what I'm asking for is more drinking and sex. The rampant sensuality isn't shown enough; we're just told it's there in the prologue and expected to accept it.
There are blatant metaphors in Restoration that may appeal to literature lovers. It's based on Rose Tremain's award-winning novel of the same name, and you can sense it in both the structure of the metaphor used and the way the film progresses.
In fact, Restoration moves along much like Gone With the Wind , focusing on one character through different life adventures until one big, satisfactory climax is reached. And like Gone With the Wind , it seems to start and stop in a lot of places.
This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the February 9, 1996 issue.
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