Restoration . Tucson Weekly . 02-08-96

Restoration

DIRECTED BY: Michael Hoffman

REVIEWED: 02-08-96

Men in wigs and ladies in low-cut bodices frolic and fret to no end in this Robert Downey Jr. vehicle. Downey plays a young physician who fortuitously ends up in the service of the King. The fun-loving physician takes to the frivolities of the court like a fish to water, but it all ends when the King decides to marry him off to His Majesty's mistress in order to fool another, jealous mistress. Then the physician does the one thing forbidden by the King and falls in love with his own wife. What a perfect, romance novel of a plot! Yet the romance never really pans out. Instead, the physician leaves the court and goes out into the world to become a man. There's a classic Oedipal drama buried in here, for those of you keeping up on your Freud. (The King is the father figure, his mistress is the forbidden mother, and Robert Downey Jr., with his big, liquid eyes, is the son.) This film is well-made but there's nothing especially enticing here unless you love lavish costumes. I did think Sam Neill gave a good performance as King Charles II, proving there's no accounting for taste, even one's own.

--Stacey Richter

Other Films by Michael Hoffman
A Midsummer Night's Dream
One Fine Day

Film Vault Suggested Links
Without Limits
The Walking Dead
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc

Rate this Film
If you don't want to vote on a film yet, and would like to know how others voted, leave the rating selection as "Vote Here" and then click the Cast Vote button.