Neither bad nor great, just entertaining...

Rating: 6/10 (7 June 2006)

Dan Brown's novel "The Da Vinci Code" quickly became a best seller not only because of its easy-to-read narrative and its thrilling plot of conspiracies and riddles, it received notoriety due to the criticism it makes to the Catholic church and the harsh portrait it makes of the Opus Dei. While the only real fact in "The Da Vinci Code" may be its status as an entertaining and well-written work of fiction, it is more than enough to make the transition to film and it is in writer Akiva Goldsman and director Ron Howard's hands to make it possible.
The now well-known plot starts with Professor Jacques Sauniere (Jean-Pierre Marielle) being killed in one of the halls of Louvre museum by the mysterious Silas (Paul Bettany), a religious man with dark purposes. Before dying, Sauniere leaves a series of clues that only his granddaughter Sophie (Audrey Tautou) will understand, but she'll need the aid of Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), famous historian, to solve the puzzle. A race to solve the code begins as Silas seems decided to make them stop in their quest and the french police is after them.
Ron Howard makes a competent adaptation following faithfully the book making the movie almost as entertaining as the source novel. Just like in the book, the plot unfolds smoothly and the film never gets boring or tiresome. While his loyalty to the source novel is really appreciated, Howard's film is overall bland and never takes full advantage of its source. The works of art that Brown describes with great detail in the book are rarely appreciated in the movie and visually the film ends up looking as any other TV crime drama. Brown's novel is definitely not a literature classic, but it deserved a more creative development in film.
Writer Akiva Goldsman takes an straight-forward take on the novel and surprisingly make it follow the book to the letter. Fans of the novel won't find anything missing, however, it is fair to point out that some changes were made although the plot is relatively intact. The only major change was that Sophie's character was considerably diminished, something odd considering that Dan Brown's novel has feminism as its most important value and thus she is a character as skilled and competent as Langdon.
Howard's regular Tom Hanks is surprisingly good as Langdon and while at times his age becomes apparent, his portrait of the everyman makes him a good choice for the role. Audrey Tautou is also good, but her character was nowhere as developed as in the book, making her just a simple sidekick for Hank's character. The one who really stands out is Sir Ian McKellen, who plays Langdon old friend Sir Leigh Teabing; McKellen completely makes the character his own and steals every scene he is in, displaying his domain of the stage and his great talent as an actor. Paul Bettany and Alfred Molina complete the cast and give their respective characters depth and dignity.
"The Da Vinci Code" is a very well-done film, but still it feels like a missed opportunity of making something really epic. Howard's uninspired take at times makes the film feel too simple for its original ambitions and may leave fans of the novel expecting a little extra effort in making Brown's story come alive. A bit more of creativity would had helped to make the movie a classic thriller instead of the simple mystery film we got.
Despite its problems; the novel's thrilling plot, the great acting and the superb score (by Hans Zimmer) make the movie an enjoyable experience, and while it definitely could had been a lot better, it is a movie worth watching at least once.