If sets and costumes were all it took to make a movie, "Restoration" would certainly be considered an all-time great. Unfortunately the filmmakers did not pay as much attention to the script and the casting as they did to their lavish recreation of the court of Charles II. Behind the frills of foppery at its most extravagant, the film is little more than an old melodramatic formula: gifted man falls victim to debauchery and loses his talent, only to rediscover it after a series of tribulations. The film is so overplotted that each scene introduces a crucial dilemma, leaving little room for character development. And yet the stolid camerawork makes things feel rather slow.
"Restoration" also features the most bizarre casting of any English period drama I've ever seen. The problem: Practically nobody's English! Instead we have Sam Neill, who's clueless in the role of King Charles; you'll wonder, how exactly did this wooden, charmless man seduce all those women? Meg Ryan is at her most ridiculous as an Irish woman driven to insanity by the loss of her family; cute as Ryan is, she's an actress with an extremely limited range. Robert Downey Jr. as the hero manages an amusingly off-beat performance, but the script puts him through such extremes of emotion in such short periods of time that he's forced to underplay. I can't argue with its Academy Awards for costumes and art direction, but as a movie, "Restoration" is the equivalent of an expensive wig.
"Restoration" also features the most bizarre casting of any English period drama I've ever seen. The problem: Practically nobody's English! Instead we have Sam Neill, who's clueless in the role of King Charles; you'll wonder, how exactly did this wooden, charmless man seduce all those women? Meg Ryan is at her most ridiculous as an Irish woman driven to insanity by the loss of her family; cute as Ryan is, she's an actress with an extremely limited range. Robert Downey Jr. as the hero manages an amusingly off-beat performance, but the script puts him through such extremes of emotion in such short periods of time that he's forced to underplay. I can't argue with its Academy Awards for costumes and art direction, but as a movie, "Restoration" is the equivalent of an expensive wig.