A mess of movie. The Marquis de Sade (Geoffry Rush) writes little erotic stories (and here they sound like weak Penthouse letters of the 70s -- last time I read Penthouse). Kate Winslet is the chamber maid who sneaks them out of his cell and into the waiting hands of early 19th Century French porn traders. According to the movie, these stories are so compelling that France is turned upside down, and Napolean sends Michael Caine to clean up the asylum where Sade resides, a place ruled by the dark, smoldering abbe, Joaquin Rivers. I must point out that also, according to this movie, either France had an abundance of especially beautiful priests, or they sent all the beautiful ones to this asylum.
A true mess, with some violence, and I suppose a story that people make money over dirty stories, we shouldn't destroy genius, and Michael Caine can do these parts without breaking a sweat.
