(hayden-christensen.com) - Generally, I find the genre of young sexually deprived adults in the pursuit of sexual arousal rather boring. The scripts are usually horrible and the story is supported by the occasional flash of a female body part to keep you awake. Browsing the description on the rear cover of the DVD, one could figure out why it never made theaters domestically. On top of that, I sat through "The Other Boleyn Girl" (Natalie Portman) the previous week which was one of the worst middle aged movies I've struggled to complete. I was not looking forward to seeing another film based on royalty or the middle ages unless it had Narnia or cute little Hobbits thrown in there somewhere.
The opening scene showed promise with a well versed and comical narrative performed by a supporting character named Tindaro (Craig Parkinson). It's a shame that Parkinson is not even listed on most DVD credits but with the help of Google, we got your back bro. Eventually, Lorenzo de Lamberti (Hayden Christensen) would appear as a whimsical character that thinks fast and runs faster. There were hilarious scenes with witty dialog that had me laughing in my seat.
Hayden Christensen's character was believable and he fit this comedic hunk role like a glove. Count Dzerzhinsky (Tim Roth) was the convincing villain who you'd love to hate even if only for his looks. Misha Barton did a wonderful job and was absolutely lovely in her wardrobes. I've only seen her in (looking around and lowering my tone) the TV show The OC so I didn't know if she had the capability to pull off a leading role. The rest of the cast aside from the priest (Craig Parkinson) were forgettable. This is not the typical movie you see set in this time frame - it had the bad guys in leather jackets with a bit of instrumental and rock and roll mixed together. This film brought me back to my youth watching Zena and Hercules back in the mid 90's yet executed at a higher level with bigger budget, talented actors and eloquent stage sets. Actually, I can see this more like a prequel to the 80's classic "16 Candles" but just a half dozen generations earlier. Staying true to genre, there are the occasional flash of body parts that keeps this movie in the Rated R section. Without equivocation, I can give this film a solid 4 out of 5 stars as I scratch my head wondering why it never made theaters. Advisory, this film contains nudity and language suitable for a mature audience. If you're old enough to see American Pie, than you're old enough to see this flick.
See the Gallery for Virgin Territory - Screen Captures.
