7 This romance set largely in the court of England's King Charles II (in the 1660's), the first monarchy after the Cromwellian interregnum, is the story of a playboy's late coming of age. Though redemption is the theme and a new English sect called the Quakers play a large role in the process, there's more reference to humanistic values than godliness here.

Robert Downey, Jr., as Merivel, is somewhat reminiscent of Fielding's Tom Jones as the central character, a medical school student with progressive ideas about his profession, but with more interest in sexual trysts and one-night liaisons than the healing arts. The only trouble is, everyone recognizes that, apart from his scurrilous personal life, he is gifted.

When he dares to put his hands into the open, permanent chest wound of a man brought to the school for observation, and feel the man's beating heart, he comes to the attention of the new king, who likes the cut of Merivel's gib. Furthermore, they share similar values.

Despite the opposition of his father, a bootmaker, and his best friend, a fellow student, to his profligate ways, Merivel doesn't think twice about accepting the king's offer to be the new keeper of the royal dogs. After all, the women at court, and there are many of them there, just as playthings, are cleaner and better looking than the ones a medical intern can find on the streets and in the pubs after a 20-hour shift.

Merivel has another big break when the king chooses him to marry the royal mistress, Celia, played by Polly Walker. The marriage is strictly for show, of course; her bedding is to remain strictly the king's province. The king gives Merivel a title and sets them up in a minor palace. Things seem to be going well, though first Merivel didn't want to marry Celia, and second—well, you could see this coming—he falls in love with her.

And I haven't even got to Meg Ryan's character yet, who is the real crux of this story, but I'll not divulge more except to say that, as the title suggests, Merivel is redeemed, at least in humanistic terms, by the end.

The period recapitulation of Renaissance England is as good as I've ever seen. You can almost smell the sewerage in the rivers that are the main arteries of transportation at the time; but never mind, there is lots of color and majesty in both senses of the word, too. Downey and Ryan are both excellent, and the smallest part we've seen him in for some time is made a comic highlight by Hugh Grant. This is probably no classic, but is definitely worth seeing.