A good Watch.

Rating: 7/10 (21 May 2006)

We came to a general consensus that we all enjoyed the movie pretty well. My wife especially seemed to enjoy it. We both enjoyed it for the same reasons I enjoyed the Angels and Demons book. It does a good job of undermining the Catholic power base and contrary to what anyone will tell you it is actually pretty factual. The events described were far closer to the truth than anything the church would have one believe. For me the movie, like the Angel and Demons book, was puerile in its overuse of meaningless symbology, stuff I outgrew when I was 13 or 14. Arcane , bizarre combinations of numbers and obscure references that some poor soul scribbles in blood as he is dying - give me a break please. I only add this as my contribution to what I didn't enjoy about the movie and why I rate it lower than an 8 or a 9. Why would ANY person write anything backwards in mirror writing - just to make it harder to read ?. Like I say - things I did when I was first in grammar school and got a kick out of it. I thought Tom Hanks and Amelie Tatou did a very credible job contrary to what some critics said. Tom Hanks made a much better scholarly University expert type than they seemed to be looking for. I heard one review on the radio where they said something to the effect of he couldn't pull of the polished smooth character he was supposed to be. I read the book. He wasn't purported to be that at all. Tom Hanks was excellent in his role and Audrey is , as usual , divine. A good watch.