Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9726 in DVD
• Released on: 1999-08-03
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 117 minutes

Amazon.com
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

From The New Yorker
Michael Hoffman's film starts in the year 1660, when, as a caption informs us, "Charles II was restored to the throne and England awoke." It takes moviemaking on a scale such as this to put England firmly back to sleep; the film is long, resplendent, and dead. The most suggestive scene comes within the first ten minutes, when a young doctor named Merivel (Robert Downey, Jr.) places his hand on the beating heart of a living man. The pulse then slows as we follow Merivel through his epicurean excesses at court, his purgative sojourn among the Quakers, his selfless struggle against the plague, and his own restoration to royal favor. Downey kicks hard to keep the story going, but Hoffman's pacing is so weird and willful (he tends to interrupt scenes before you know what's going on) that your interest slumps irrevocably. The sets and costumes are a dream, but the performers-Sam Neill as the ineffectual king, Meg Ryan as an Irish madwoman (i.e., a woman with a screwy voice and unbrushed hair), and Hugh Grant as a foppish painter-are given no room to breathe; only David Thewlis, playing Merivel's Quaker colleague, delivers any real pathos. All in all, a boost to the Cromwellian cause. Adapted by Rupert Walters from Rose Tremain's novel. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

The rise, fall & restoration of the physician Robert Merivel
"Restoration" won a pair of Oscars for Eugenio Zanetti's Art Direction-Set Deocration and James Acheson's Costume Design, and there is a sense in which the spectacular sets threaten to overwhelm the story, which is based on the novel by Rose Tremain. This is a gorgeous film where the camera often takes time to focus on every detail as we are introduced to one spectacular set after another that presents the lavish court of King Charles II, who returned to the English throne following the restoration of the Stuart monarch. As far as period costume dramas go this 1994 film is virtually in a class by itself, and how it was made for only $18 million is beyond belief.

The reason that many viewers may not cotton to this film is that it is one in which we are repeatedly misled as to what the film is above. Even with the hint of the film's title, which is at face value the term used to describe the reign of Charles II, "Restoration" makes more sense retrospectively. However, I liked the idea that my idea of what the film was about kept evolving. After all the times I have sat through predictable films and been ahead of the characters and the plot, I can certainly enjoy trying to keep up with a story for once and being surprised by the twists and turns in the narrative.

The story is about Robert Merivel (Robert Downey Jr.), a young physician of great promise who is summoned to court to attend to a patient at the command of the King (Sam Neill). Merivel succeeds, albeit more through luck than skill, and is appointed to a position in court. Seduced by life in the palace Merivel accepts the position, which means turning his back on his studies and his best friend John Pearce (David Thewlis), a Quaker. However, the King finds another use for Merivel and marries him to his most spirited mistress, Lady Cedlia (Polly Walker). After the lavish wedding Merivel gets a knighthood and a huge country estate, but the one thing that is denied him is sex with his "wife." Having been ordered not to fall in love with Celia, we believe we know what this film is going to be about. However, in that regard we are both right and wrong.

Despite the glamour of Merivel's rise in the first part of this film, it is his fall that produces the true drama. It is a long fall, hard fall, set against the backdrop of two cataclysmic events in the London of that time: the Black Plague and the Great Fire. It is not that Merivel finds himself during these trying times, but rather than he remembers himself. Downey's performance covers a lot of ground. When he is the fool he embraces the role wholeheartedly, but at the end when he has restored to him the most precious thing that he has lost the look on his face is a moment of transcendent joy. Of course, it is impossible to watch this film today and not wish the actor had taken its moral to heart.

I have enjoyed watching this film several times and one of these days I am going to have to read Tremain's novel. I suspect that the screenplay by Rupert Walters is being extremely faithful, but I would also think that Tremain has all sorts of marvelous period details that I would enjoy. Another thing that impresses me about Michael Hoffman's film is that it has Ian McKellen and Meg Ryan in what are essentially small, but pivotal, roles. "Restoration" is a film where you just go along for the ride, enjoy the pretty pictures, and be surprised at the end to discover how far you have come from where you started.

A film about the awakening of a human soul.
The first time I saw this movie I was distinctly underwhelmed. I'm an art historian with a specialty in the Baroque and found the settings way over the top, especially in the palace scenes. Everything seemed to be enlarged and rather ridiculous. I'm afraid that my annoyance about this prevented me from seeing the real value of the film. After a long time I recently viewed it again and was stunned to discover that there was a very interesting and inspiring story lurking among the overinflated sets. The story of a person's decay into self-indulgence and self-pity and eventual discovery, through religious friends, of the pathway to genuine happiness by caring for others was actually very surprising in contemporary culture. Bravo!

On the performances: I thought Robert Downey, Jr. did a pretty good job in the title role and that Sam Neill did a remarkably good job (with, I suspect, some tongue-in-cheek)embodying Charles II. I was less impressed by the women (and Hugh Grant), but they really had subordinate roles anyway. And Ian McKellan, who has always impressed me as a very physical actor, did a great job as an elderly rural servant. Best of all were the pack of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels who did a superb job of playing themselves!

A parallel to the life of Robert Downey, Jr.
Here is one of my favorite films and one of the best period pieces of recent years. Occuring during the English Restoration period, it is also the story of a soul's restoration to recognize one's talents and one's destiny. Based on the novel by Rose Tremain, it cuts across the events of the era using the life of the character Robert Merivel, played by Robert Downey, Jr. The beauty of the costumes and art direction was accomplished within a miniscule budget (the total film budget was less than $20 million) but resulted in winning the Oscar for both categories. As always, Mr. Downey Jr. proves that he is one of the top actors in America today. It is a pity that his personal life has been so tragic and yet, here within this film, he portrays an individual bent on self-destruction rather than recognizing and exercising his talents. You want to shout, "Robert, do you watch any of your films?" It is funny, touching and inspiring. Sadly, not a box office smash, but it was a difficult movie to promote. Also, pay attention to the film score, a great combination of classical music of the period and an excellent score by James Newton Howard. And, to Mr. Downey Jr., who I hope can get his personal troubles behind him so that he can enjoy his talents, there is a line for him that is quite appropriate: "Lord, send a light to show Robert the way."