This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Restoration is the story of a doctor - Robert Merivel (Robert Downey Jr.) who finds himself living amid the chaos of the interregnum - the brief period during the mid 17th century when England did not have a monarch. He lives the charmed life of a wealthy and charming bachelor in close proximity to the upper echelons of English society. However, his carousing is squandering his professional abilities.Those around him, including one peer, John Pearce (David Thewlis) and his tinker father (Benjamin Withrow) see him wasting his considerable gifts. This movie, while it is supposedly a 17th century story, actually employs a rather tired, worn modern storyline of the talented man who squanders his gifts but who finally achieves redemption after Losing Everything. It is disguised as a Restoration-era movie, but it's clear that this is a well-worn clichéd story in wigs, if you but peek below the hood. The script is rather pat, the characters slight, and the overall effect forgettable. Hugh Grant, in the wake of his success in various Merchant Ivory Productions, and some fantastic comedies, is given a forgettable role as a scheming court fop into which he throws himself. His character, however, is such a stereotype that even his great comic gifts cannot make much of it. His character is effeminate and one note, a scheming harpie with no depth. Meg Ryan must never try to do an accent again. Leprechauns are more realistic than her Irish accent. Watching her performance here, voice coaches wouldn't know whether to laugh or cry. Her Irish accent is like the Quasimodo of accents - you're horrified, but you can't turn away.King Charles II (Sam Neill) and Merivel's chemistry here is hilarious. The king has no dignity and it seems very unlikely that he would have become so buddy buddy with a doctor who has no noble credentials. Yet there, they are, all but doing shots together. Neill is usually better than this but he is atrocious here. He looks bemused and stoned in the movie, it's really terrible. Robert Downey Jr. is very charismatic and rakish in this film. As much as the work will allow, he imbues his character with charm and a lot of heart as he goes through his struggles. Ultimately however, this is a moralizing tale in wigs. The acting is weak and the script is terrible.

"By the books" mid-90s historical epic, that like others of the era (Dangerous Beauty, Emma, Cousin Bette...) now feels slight and superficial; even corny at parts. The story is elaborate, but played mostly for sentiment. No villain, no chase, or explosions. But the piece of history covered is interesting in and of itself. And no movie about friendship is completely worthless. Prior to 2001, movie-makers scoured the storybooks for the right material to squeeze emotion out of you; and they frequently felt the need to time travel to do so (Titanic). This ruse now feels rather stretched, insufficient and manufactured.Not a complete waste of time, but reaction will depend on the viewer. There are some elaborate sets. Meg Ryan here is not making a good enough effort, or she knows that she shouldn't have taken the part. Hugh Grant's early stammering is on display.

I'm not sure we saw the same movie and I'm puzzled.This is a tremendously rich, emotional film, very true to Rose Tremain's novel, and just wonderful.The casting is divine, and I thought Meg Ryan was fine as Catherine.Charles II is my favorite English monarch and Sam Neill portrayed him just as I pictured him.Robert Downey was Marivel to a T, as was David Thewliss as Pierce.The costumes and scenery were magnificent -- from the palace to the countryside and back -- and those fabulous Spaniels running through the palace and environs was just how I'd pictured England's most enlightened monarch's place to be!How anyone can find this movie to be anything less than a gem is beyond me.

Visually magnificent, with plenty of opportunities for oppressive opulence in this delicious, but ultimately convoluted epic, *Restoration* is a lovely mess. Spanning the reign of Charles II, the great fire, the plague, ad nauseum, the "restoration" refers to, not only the period, but the human condition. But that conclusion is a difficult one to arrive at, and will only be understood by those viewers who actually sit through the movie. Shot in England and Wales, and winning Academy Awards for Art Direction and Costumes, the script involves a promising young doctor, Jack Merivel (Downey), whose gifts attract the attention of the King. Entering the revered court circle, Merivel has the delights of the world at his fingertips and ultimately succumbs to debauchery. But it is a story of restoration (as well as *the* Restoration) and redemption, with certain timeless aspects that have modern consequences, but the script begins to fray throughout the second half. With the exception of an unpleasant, jarring characterization of a mentally ill woman by Meg Foster (whose forte is definitely not period pieces), the leading and supporting roles are well cast. Downey has an appeal and charm (one that survived his recent tribulations), and gives Merivel humor, irony and dedication, in addition to the human foibles he falls victim to. Neill carries off the role of King Charles II with style and assurance, as he seeks to secure the permanent services of his mistress by marrying her off the Merivel, thus keeping her near. The King has selected Merivel for his inability to be placated with one woman – Merivel's desires keep him on a constant conquest for new and different lasciviousness – but the King's one condition is that Merivel not fall in love with his own wife. Needless to say, that is exactly what occurs, and thus begins the tumultuous fall from grace. And that's just the first part of this lengthy movie. The second half deals with Merivel's quest for redemption – not from the King, but from himself and God. It involves his daughter by the Meg Ryan character, and this is where the story changes from costume drama to social commentary. It is through Merivel's personal travails, as well as those inherent in the period: disease, pestilence and ignorance, that Merivel understands that the only reason he is on earth is to care for this child that is an extension of himself. His flight to find her and prove his worthiness in overcoming the obstacles set before him is a moment that would have been served at little earlier in the film. Despite the lush cinematography, there is an overdose factor involved that, once the outcome of the movie is evident, the viewer yearns for it to hurry along and be over. That said, it also leaves lingering memories of beauty and gratification.