Uninspired.

Rating: 5/10 (19 May 2006)

From the word go... the acting and direction of this film is unemotional and detached. Tom Hanks is terribly miscast as Robert Langdon, completely failing to convince us of his character's expertise and demeanor. Forget the lack of romanticism and eroticism that was in the book and not the movie. The movie is not enough drama and too much lecture, with none of the cliffhanging suspense that makes the book so wonderful. An absolute disappointment, especially from a great actor like Tom Hanks, who has more than proved himself adept at dramatic roles.... in this film it is as though he is sleepwalking. Worse still is Ian McKellan, who still plays the old grey wizard Gandalf card in this film in his delivery, and apart from a few playful moments (and the only chuckles in the film), is completely dreadful. Jean Reno, as usual, completely nails his part of Bezu Fache, and Paul Bettany, who I think is a great young actor, is adequate as Silas. Ron Howard tried too hard I think, to make the film enjoyable by as many people as possible and far too much of the controversy is either passed over quickly or left out entirely. Ugh. What a disappointment.