One of those erotic dramas that actually works better as a video touting abstinence. The sex is that soulless, that dingy, that diseased. Based on the life of John Wilmot, an English earl renowned in the late 1600s for his satirical plays and salacious personal life, this even manages to make Johnny Depp look icky (and not in a Willy Wonka way). The movie means to be a tragic portrait of a misunderstood creative spirit, but it’s ultimately overcome by period silliness and a choppy narrative that suggests much tinkering took place between its debut at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival and its March 2005 release.
