Could and should have been great ... Oops

Rating: 1/10 (19 May 2006)

I read the book about a year ago, and loved it. Definitely not a great book, but a fascinating subject and theory, and an efficient thriller. I was very excited to go and watch the movie adaptation on its day of release. So, no, I'm not a catholic fanatic(or whatever) and yes, I wanted to love the movie. But ... it's just a bad bad bad movie. The movie is just as boring as the book was so exciting to read. Regarding the controversy surrounding the movie, I suppose most of it is organized by the marketing team ... The book was controversial, because it was believable. The movie looks like your regular religious thriller (minus the fun). You don't need to hate the book or the theory behind it, to think this is just a bad movie: (very) bad script, bad directing (Ron Howad ??? come on ... !!!), bad picture, etc. I can't say bad acting, though, because McKellen, Bettany and Tautou were great (though they sure deserve much better), and Tom Hanks probably never realized they were shooting a movie. I guess I'll read the book again and try to imagine a great film like the first time I read it ... (I can't help but think that someone like Paul Verhoeven would have made it a lot more exciting. Whoever thought Ron Howard could direct this ?? - or anything ...)