Full of Sound and Fury

Rating: 6/10 (23 June 2006)

While the cinematography is quite impressive and the acting of high caliber, the story itself is unremarkable. And in the end no matter how well a film is executed, it needs to resonate with the audience. Partly due to over hyping and partly due to an incoherent plot, the impact of the "The DaVinci Code" falls short. It's simply "National Treasure" on a international scale. Full of sound of fury, signifying nothing.
Perhaps it's inevitable when such a wildly popular novel is converted to celluloid. Popular dramatic novels, by their very nature of appealing to a broad-based audience, have operatic plots -- there are archetypal heroes and villains and a pretense of suspense with a nod to higher themes. The last aspect is the genesis of Dan Brown's appeal. The themes of religion, the origin of God, and the power of the Church are as enduring, universal and grandiose as one can imagine. Brown uses these unflinchingly to grab the Church by the neck with iconoclastic fervor and wring out every last drop of sacrilegious heresy. The absurdity of lines such as"you're the last living descendant of Jesus Christ" are mitigated only by the supposed importance of the statements.
As can be expected, the acting by world renowned cast is solid, albeit somewhat lacking in inspiration. Ian McKellan, Tom Hanks and Jean Reno are all at the top of their craft. And McKellan is one of the few actors who could pull off the convoluted role of Leigh Teabing without allowing it succumbing to farce. Audrey Tautou has solidified her reputation with mass audiences in her first mainstream film after a very promising debut in "Amelie". The scenes with her and Mckellen are the highlights of the film.
The film would have greatly benefited from a shortened run time, a tightened storyline, and the removal of several awkward lines ("Quick, I need to get to a library"). Of course in the end the movie's faults lie with Dan Brown -- and while his writing is imaginative and well researched, it lacks the literary style and character empathy of truly great writers. In the end "Sophie Neveu" and "Robert Langdon" are easily forgettable characters in a film that will be remembered more for the religious controversy than great story telling.