Think "American Treasure" for grown-ups

Rating: 5/10 (20 May 2006)

For all the hype surrounding it, "The Da Vinci Code" is somewhat of a letdown. At about 2.5 hours it was all I could do to not wake up my girlfriend and make an early exit from the theatre.
I'd never read the book so I didn't walk into the theatre with any expectations in that regard. However, I was somewhat disappointed that with such a smart cast and crew, the viewer has to suspend his disbelief for most, if not all, of the movie. Hanks solves the puzzles and codes a little TOO easily, and too much happens in such a short period of time. The smartest of men have worked their entire lives to do a fraction of what Langdon and Co. did in a few days.
There was no character development, save a few grainy childhood flashbacks, and the characters were rather unsympathetic. The dialogue seemed forced at times. Much of the movie I wondered if in real life Langdon would've stopped and said, "Woah woah woah... slow down here! Why am I involved in all this mess and what the hell is going on?" But he never did... despite the fact people around him were losing their lives, Hanks's character just went with the current, going where ever it took him.
I know this isn't a big deal but it bothers me... We never see a break in any of the action... we never see Langdon or Sophie or Teabigs or whatever his name is stopping for a bite to eat or a few hours to sleep or for a quick shower. Yet Langdon and Co. are going at it full-throttle; Langdon with a cleanly-shaven face and Sophie with her unblemished hair and makeup. I know, I know.. it's a ticky-tack thing to bemoan, but honestly I felt I could identify with these characters a little bit more if we saw them doing some of the routine simple things we all do in our every lives.
Overall, the movie wasn't THAT bad; I (and many like me) was let down because of the hype. Think "American Treasure" with a more sobering undertone. Everything happens too fast and everything works a little too perfectly for viewers to get seriously involved in what's going on on screen. It's apparent the world of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code depends on a lot of brains and a hell of a lot more luck for everything to come together for our characters at the right time.