Not Coming to a Theater Near You

The Da Vinci Code / USA / 2006

“I have to get to a library, fast!” Naively, I thought that there was a chance this might work, the pure thriller elements of the story taking flight when divorced from Dan Brown’s grim, pedestrian prose. No such luck. This is yawn inducing dreck, utterly faceless, the paper thin characters spouting tired absurdities to one another in between bouts of horrendously staged violence. It’s also brutally cynical- the only reason anyone could possibly take this job is for the guaranteed hefty paycheck. I expect such behaviour from Ron Howard and Tom Hanks, but Paul Bettany, Alfred Molina and especially Ian McKellen should know better. It’s possible that a decent movie could have been salvaged here, perhaps by throwing out most of the book and starting from scratch. But slavish adaptations are all the rage nowadays (thanks again, Peter Jackson and Harry Potter), so we have to endure every tedious plot twist, every ponderous line of dialogue, every insult to an audience’s intelligence.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: DVD
10 Oct 2006 11:25 AM | Comments (1)

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1. Adam B. / 10 October 2006 / 2:03 PM / URL

   Having reviewed this when it first came out and given it an overly positive review (which brought forth scorn from every corner), I’m hesitant to confess that since then, I’ve had absolutely no desire to revisit it. Turning over the film in my head, I’ve found that it left little lasting impression. And though I’ll defend McKellen’s acting (what I still consider to be the film’s best quality), his choice in roles leaves much to be desired, as does the entire plot.

   And Tom Hanks’ hair is still appaling.