Review

Co-produced by John Malkovich (who also costars as King Charles II) and adroitly directed by first-timer Laurence Dunmore, The Libertine has been brilliantly scripted by its playwright, Stephen Jeffreys. Recounting the final years of the poet and playwright, John Wilmot, the second Earl of Rochester, Johnny Depp delivers an amazing performance of this man; a great thinker and speaker, a misanthrope, a cynical malcontent, a sexual libertine. The viewer is treated to a vision of England in the late 1600's, with its muddy rabble groveling for existence in the streets while the powdered wigs and faces of the aristocracy give in to debauchery and gluttony in palaces and theaters. Taken under the wing of King Charles, “Johnny” is entrusted to write a play about Charles, and to idealize him with profound and high-minded prose. However, the Earl has other thoughts and his drinking and womanizing keep him busy most of the time. Enter Elizabeth Barry (a luminescent Samantha Morton), a small-time actress who harbors desires for greatness. The narrative plunges deep into the hearts of Wilmot and Barry at this point as Wilmot professes his admiration and proposes to help Barry achieve greatness while she simply expounds upon her driving need to be independent of men and to simply be a woman. The acting from Depp and Morton is superlative, touching the territory of Shakespeare himself, (thanks to the script). The rest of the story shows Barry’s ascent to stardom and the Earl’s descent, when the play commissioned by the King turns into a pornographic romp, leading to his prompt dismissal from London and his eventual physical decay brought about by too much drink and casual sexual relations. Depp brings terror and madness to this third act, appearing as a wraith of demonic proportions. The Libertine is a revelatory experience if the viewer sticks with it past its first half-hour, when it transforms itself from a wordy costume drama into a glimpse of the horror and beauty of humanity.

 -- Max Brinck