Terrible, terrible, terrible

Rating: 1/10 (24 May 2006)

I nearly walked out of the theater- it was that bad. There were several reasons why. First, Tom Hanks. He's cute. He's harmless. He's like a playful little puppy. What he is NOT is a sexy Ivy League scholar/grail seeker a la Indiana Jones. The delivery of lines that should have made his character appear informed and intelligent came out stilted and halting instead. Even the addition of his near-mullet couldn't stop me from expecting him to yell "WIIIILSOOOON!" or spit out "Stupid is as stupid does, Sir Leigh." Second, the slight character changes. In the book, Sophie is educated, intelligent, and independent. She kicks butt and takes names. But Sophie was seriously dumbed-down for the movie- probably in order to make Hanks/Langdon look more intelligent, which didn't work. Sophie the character in the movie actually *whines* "Can you solve it???" which is completely out of line with the strength that Sophie the character in the book has.
Also in the book, Langdon is fairly well versed in Grail study, and appears to accept if not support the thesis. In the movie- likely to make it more palatable to religious groups- he's a skeptic. His non-belief makes the whole plot line awkward. If he doesn't believe in at least some of this stuff, why does he continue to pursue it? Third- the interaction of Tatou and Hanks. The dynamics were underwhelming. No chemistry whatsoever. They may as well have been interacting with a blue screen.
I am a big fan of the book, and was really looking forward to the movie. I was woefully disappointed- it really could have been done so much better. Perhaps if someone other than Opie and Forrest had been behind it...