Article: Swashbuckling romp with brains as well; The Count of Monte Cristo (15). Stars Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce, Richard Harris and Dagmara Domincyzk. Directed by Kevin Reynolds. **** The Scorpion King (12) Action. The Rock, Steven Brand, Kelly Hu, Michael Clarke Duncan, Grant Heslov, Peter Facinelli, Bernard Hill. ***.(Features)

Byline: Lew Baxter

CRUSTY old Richard Harris almost steals the thunder in this rollicking remake of the Alexandre Dumas tale of young cockades battered by wicked betrayals and buckles being swashed galore as justice struggles to find its level against gaggles of curmudgeonly ne'er do wells.

Harris is in his element as the creaking Abbe Faria who's been incarcerated for donkeys' years in a dank, gloomy cell on the prison island of Chateau D'if, where Edmond Dantes is a fellow prisoner, a winsome interpretation by Jim Caviezel of the wimpish lovelorn swain who later finds a tiger in his tank.

The photography is lush, the scenery breathtaking and ...

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