Restoration

Restoration is a period drama set in England during the 1660s, after the monarchy has been restored under Charles II. Robert Merivel is a young medical student whose life changes when he is summoned to court and manages to help one of the king's beloved dogs. His reward is a place among the courtiers, and he quickly adapts to a life of comfort and pleasure, drifting away from medicine. The king then asks him to marry his mistress, Celia, in a union meant to deflect the queen's suspicions, on the strict condition that he not fall in love with her. Merivel fails to keep that promise, and his position and wealth are taken from him. Reduced to where he began, he sets out on a journey that brings him back into contact with his old friend John Pearce and reawakens his commitment to medicine, tested by the plague sweeping London.

The film was directed by Michael Hoffman, its fourth feature, following Some Girls and Soapdish and preceding One Fine Day. Robert Downey Jr. plays Merivel, with Sam Neill as Charles II, Meg Ryan as Katharine, David Thewlis as John Pearce, Hugh Grant as Elias Finn and Polly Walker as Celia Clemence, among a credited cast of 48. It was produced by Miramax on a budget of about 19 million dollars and earned roughly 4 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds a critics' rating of 6.3 from 35 reviews, while on TMDB it sits at 6.1 from 144 votes, indicating that critics and audiences received it similarly.