Mostly faithful, but falls short

Rating: 6/10 (28 May 2006)

On the plus side, the movie is generally true to the spirit of the book, if not every aspect. I read the book and felt that it was pretty hard to go wrong following the book religiously (pun intended). It also has some interesting visual effects to draw the viewer in. These effects could be considered a benefit or a hindrance, depending on your point of view, but I didn't feel that they distracted from the movie and they had to do SOMETHING to help the viewer work through Langdon's thought process without any narration.
Now, all this being said, why only a 6, even though it is based on a book that I highly enjoyed? Well, the problems lies with the casting and direction. I had my concerns from the moment I heard that Hanks was cast as Langdon, and I was STILL disappointed! His performance comes off as wooden and unemotional. To a lesser degree, the same can be said for Tautou. This surprised and greatly disappointed me as I am a big fan of Audrey's. Even more distressing was the utter lack of chemistry between them.
I find it hard to believe that Hanks and Tautou weren't up to the task, so I can only assume that their on-screen failings were in the direction & production of the film. Oddly enough, many of the other characters were well played. Teabing, Silas, Fache, etc. were all well portrayed.
The other disappointment in this movie was that it missed on some key elements. They completely ignored Robert Langdon's sense of sleep deprivation and, more importantly, they left out any hint of romance between the protagonists.
I was also annoyed at changes to the dialog that seemed to be intended to soften the blow of the message of the book. But I was even more dismayed at the horribly dumbed-down ending in the form of a complete scene rewrite with new dialog.
Given the budget, director and caliber of actors on this project, it should have been MUCH better. I would still recommend seeing it, but I certainly wouldn't go in with too high of expectation.
I only hope I get the opportunity to meet Ron Howard and ask him what the hell he was thinking.