It might be better not to read the book before watching the movie

Rating: 5/10 (20 May 2006)

This movie stays very faithful to the book. Watching this movie was like reading the book without actually having to do any reading, and this isn't a good thing if you've already read the book. The biggest (and probably only) factors of the book that had an impact on me were the controversial challenges against fundamental religious beliefs, as aside from this, this thriller differs very little in its suspense and storytelling than most half-decent thrillers.
It has been years since I've read the book and so the impact this story had on me has had years to fade away, and sadly I realised while watching this movie that it had faded completely. Since this movie is such an accurate portrayal of the novel, it expresses the exact same controversial issues that I have gotten over in the last few years, and so this movie generated very little excitement for me and provoked no thought whatsoever.
However, if you haven't read the book before then you should give it a go because if you strip away all the hype and controversy, it isn't a bad movie.