Fogettable and dull reproduction of the book

Rating: 3/10 (23 May 2006)

Although this movie is true to the book it has none of the excitement. I saw it with a friend who had not read the book and we both thought it was mediocre. The plot is too complicated to go into but basically its a combination murder-mystery and treasure-hunt centering around the relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Its worth watching so, if you can, wait to rent it instead of paying more to sit and be mostly bored for two and a half hours.
The main problem is not the screenplay or the ensemble of truly great actors who do their best. Its the direction. There is no change of pace. Actually there is not much pace to speak of. The musical score, like the movie itself, is dulled down and monotonic. Whoever bankrolled this should have paid whatever Doug Liman or Jon Turteltaub were asking to direct it. This could have been a mammoth blockbuster with the right person at the helm. Instead its going to be mildly popular for a time simply because of all the hype.