for the bright twelve-year-old

Rating: 5/10 (30 May 2006)

There are some intellectual movies (and books) that are just right for the precocious 12-yr.-old. This is one of them. Lots of stylized intellectual arguments between characters, but also occasional action and humor woven into a strictly formulaic plot. I won't give anything away, but if you are like me and didn't read the book, there is a "surprise" twist at the end. I began to guess it, though, and I became convinced after the conflict in the plot ran down but the movie kept going. To keep going after that point, there has to be a really potent plot twist and I guessed it. Telegraph received.
This is a fun, entertaining movie (see four points of Redeeming value below). A lot of stuff is silly. Several facts are just wrong. For example, the Catholic Church no longer holds that Mary Magdelene was a prostitute. It once held that position --held it for almost 1500 years-- but since 1969, Church doctrine has been that she was not a prostitute. So some of things in this movie are, to one degree or another, not to be taken as true. On the other hand, the contention that Emperor Constantine was not a real Christian--that is true.
Some of my favorite scenes in this movie are the burnished tableaux of historical and speculative events such as the death of Constantine and the Council of Nicea (those are historical). The Council is shown with the Bishops of the fourth century Church in a great hall that is lined with Roman soldiers; some bishops in togas and neatly coifed while others are in rude tunics, long hair and beards. They are all shouting and arguing. Yes, that is what it probably looked like.
The characters are either flat or caricatures. The plot is unbelievable in whole if not in a few parts. Liberties are taken with real life organizations. This could have made for fun satire, but ultimately it's a pseudo-intellectual suspense yarn that delivered little intellectual stimulation and little suspense for me. So why see this movie at all (say, when it comes out on DVD)?
1. Ian McKellan steals scenes like nobody's business 2. scenes inside the Louvre (unless you can go to the Louvre in person) 3. some of the historical tableaux 4. over-the-top performance as villain by Paul Bettany tied with understated performance as villain by Alfred Molina