As a non-reader of the book........

Rating: 9/10 (21 May 2006)

....I got to say, I really enjoyed this movie. You can see from the very beginning that it's not a movie that people should take very seriously, yet too many people do. My parents, who did read the book, saw the film with me, and they told from the very beginning, this is a book that reads like it was made to be a movie. Well, if what I saw was what Brown wrote in his book, I couldn't agree more (I did read the beginning, but couldn't really get past that). It has great action, and the mystery is plotted very cleverly. Ron Howard is one of my favorite directors. Even if he's not exactly the most creative director out there, he's made some of my favorite feel-good films (A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man, the Grinch), so I was really looking forward to this because of him. Even though this could've been done by anyone else, he does a great job with the locations, and his inter-cutting scenes between modern times and old times, and his great tricks for keeping the mystery, all impressive. What really stands out here though is the cast. I've heard some people didn't think Tom Hanks was right for the part of Robert Langdon. I say, Tom Hanks can do just about anything.He's one of my favorite actors with roles like Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Big, Saving Private Ryan, Toy Story, even Catch Me if You Can (which I agree is one of his weaker roles). Here, he plays a man who can crack any code at the blink of an eye, as an expert in symbols. I love his first conference scene, and from there, he never breaks character. Audrey Tautou is just lovely. She also never breaks character as the lovely Sophie Neveu, a woman who finds the past is about to haunt her. She invokes every emotion with grace, and you can't help but love her. Ian McKellen is fantastic as always. I loved him as Gandalf, and here, the moment he appears on screen, he's both funny and creepy. And, the moment he appears, Paul Bettany scares the hell out of you, but also makes you feel sorry for him. He's controlled by the people who hired him, but at the same time, his face brings out so much hatred, you don't want to come across Silas. The script has its flaws, including some underdeveloped characters, like Fache (though wonderfully portrayed by Jean Reno), and even though some lines came across as pure bull (I'm not really religious, so that's probably just the way it sounds to me), it didn't get in the way of me enjoying this fine piece of entertainment, which is all it really wants to be. It may give a message to the audience, but it's not for people to take so seriously as they are. It's fun, pure fun.