OK mystery-drama from Director Ron Howard...

Rating: 4/10 (13 January 2009)

1st watched 1/7/2009 (Dir-Ron Howard): OK mystery-drama from Director Ron Howard. With all the hype leading up to this movie you'd think that Ron Howard was removed from the good-old-boy club due to him movielyzing issues that question Jesus and the Christian doctrine. The problem is that this has been done before with other movies like "Last Temptation of Christ" and others without all the hoopla because those movies weren't mainstream. Despite this, the movie has to be reviewed for it's merit as a movie instead of what it reveals that's shocking. The movie is basically a quest for the holy grail and answers to who Jesus really was; a Deity or just a man. A secret society is supposedly holding this answer and making it secretive and a grand master of the cult tries to reveal the answers to his niece before his death. Where the Tom Hanks character comes in, is that he reads religious symbols and is brought in to help determine why this man died and who killed him. The movie is not unlike adventures like "Raiders of the Lost Ark" or "National Treasure" except the answers could bring down a religion. Audrey Toutau plays the niece who finds out more about why she's involved the longer the movie goes forward. The chemistry between Toutou and Hanks isn't that great and since they are the main characters it makes the movie less interesting. The revelations about Christ's possible mortality and descendants is kind of presented as just part of a mystery and therefore isn't that shocking. The movie is entertaining to a point, but nothing new. All the hype, again, doesn't make for a good movie --- but it's not bad, just not good enough to recommend.