The Da Vinci Code

A Holy Grail quest that recalls the Indiana Jones trilogy - but without the humour, or Harrison Ford...

If you're reading this, you're probably the last person left in Britain who hasn't seen this much-anticipated adaptation of Dan Brown's Church-offending 2003 novel. Despite the furore over the book's subject matter, however, the film itself is often too full of dry exposition, as the characters hurtle through explicating the Mary Magdalen myth, while eluding the authorities. As one unimpressed critic has put it, "for people who insist that the movie is never as good as the book, your case just got stronger."[i]                                                                                                                       

  By rights, this film ought be a major smash hit. After all, it's based on an incredibly popular novel, features some major stars, and is directed by the Oscar-winning director of A Beautiful Mind, Ron Howard. Still, the movie somehow manages to be less than the sum of its parts.

The problem with the film version is that it fails to strike a balance between entertainment and education. On the one hand, Professor Robert Langdon's (Tom Hanks, overshadowed by terrible hair) insight into the world of symbols and Christian myth is interesting - it certainly gripped Brown's many readers - but the academic's frequent lectures at the uninformed Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tatou) also slow the action down, encouraging some of the less dedicated audience members to switch off. Yet, without some elucidation of the mysteries of the Da Vinci code, the film would make little sense.

 
When reading Brown's book, the reader can always skip ahead if he or she is tired of the author's frequent digressions onto matters of ancient history and shady Christian sects. Unfortunately, the poor viewers expecting a thriller do not have the same luxury, and may not remain patient for very long (cinema seats aren't that comfortable).

  Sadly, not even Ian McKellen's extremely funny and unpredictable turn can save The Da Vinci Code. If you don't know what the secret of the code is by now (hint: the Holy Grail isn't something you can drink out of), then just ask someone who's read it, rather than sit through this.

Director: Ron Howard

Cast: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tatou, Jean Reno, Ian McKellen, Paul Bettany

149 min

On general release now. 

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[i] Matt Pais, ‘Fast-Paised review: ‘The Da Vinci Code', http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/movies/mmx-060519-movies-review-code-pais,0,3937053.story