The Da Vinci Code (movie)

[Anthony_NYC]

After the long discussion here about the book, I was looking foward to a vigorous debate about the movie. Instead--a thudding silence!

I read the book several months ago, expecting not to be able to put it down. Instead I found it hard to pick up. It took me forever to finish; night after night, I would read a few chapters, then put it down in favor of something more interesting. Cardboard (and not very bright) characters, witless dialogue, no style whatsoever. Plus, Brown has a thorougly annoying, schoolchildish way of throwing in Fascinating Facts I Learned While Researching This Book that have nothing whatsoever to do with the plot.

Nevertheless, Brown does have skill in weaving his facts and theories together into a plot, one that picks up considerably towards the end, so I thought it would make a good movie. Maybe if someone like De Palma had made it. In the event, Howard and his screenwriter are just too faithful to the book. Poor Hanks and Tautou have no personalities to play; with their dull dialogue, they both seem at a loss for what to do with themselves. It has a bit of visual style, especially for the flashback scenes, but I don't think they ever made a decision regarding the fact that half the movie takes place at night; the gloom doesn't "speak." It's very talky, and I had to explain a lot to the friend I saw it with

The oddest thing, I found, was the monotonous pacing of the movie. There were no highs, no thrills, nothing to point up the moments of revelation. (The undistinguished soundtrack is no help at all.) To my surprise, I wound up thinking the book was better than the movie--which I really didn't think was possible!

Other opinions?

[Giannina]

LOL! I chose not to see the movie because, like you, I didn't like the book one tiny bit. To think that the book is better than the movie....looks like I'm a lot smarter than I thought.

Giannina

[Mel Johnson]

I believe that the book is the illustration for "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull.....

[dirac]

Anthony_NYC writes:

Nevertheless, Brown does have skill in weaving his facts and theories together into a plot, one that picks up considerably towards the end, so I thought it would make a good movie. Maybe if someone like De Palma had made it. In the event, Howard and his screenwriter are just too faithful to the book. Poor Hanks and Tautou have no personalities to play; with their dull dialogue, they both seem at a loss for what to do with themselves. It has a bit of visual style, especially for the flashback scenes, but I don't think they ever made a decision regarding the fact that half the movie takes place at night; the gloom doesn't "speak." It's very talky, and I had to explain a lot to the friend I saw it with.

I tended to follow the same line of thought, Anthony_NYC, and was hoping for a picture with some good visuals and campy zip. No such luck. The book is poorly written, although I’ve actually read worse, Heaven help me, but it had definite possibilities. It looks as if Howard and Company got spooked and approached the material with way too much solemnity. Maybe David Cronenberg? De Palma or Roman Polanski, in their Seventies incarnations, would have been just the ticket. (I was never too crazy about the scores Pino Donaggio produced for De Palma, but they would have been a big improvement on Hans Zimmer’s blustery efforts here.) It does pick up a bit toward the finish, but it seems to have about three endings.

Poor Hanks and Tautou have no personalities to play; with their dull dialogue, they both seem at a loss for what to do with themselves.

Hanks, especially, looked lost. It might have been a good idea to cast someone like Daniel Craig. I think even Tom Cruise would have come out of it better. McKellen was fine. He also referred to Leonardo as Leonardo, for a change.

but I don't think they ever made a decision regarding the fact that half the movie takes place at night; the gloom doesn't "speak."

That’s right. No atmosphere. You just keep wishing someone would turn the lights on. I did like the views of Rosslyn Chapel, though.

[DefJef]

Glad I didn't waste my time reading the book. The movie was awful and the casting of Tom Hanks as a professor was terrible.

Obviously a bad movie based on a bad book about a bizarre story which was bound to get millions of people upset. And it did... and I'm one of them.

Don't waste your time.