Good plot, pity about the direction

Rating: 3/10 (26 November 2006)

I liked Dan Brown's novel - a good yarn. I was sad to see how boring the film was (I watched the extended version on DVD). There was so little of the suspense of the book and even the "baddies" were really not so bad. The assassin was a creepy character in the book - approaching a Michael Myers - in the film one felt rather sorry for him, he was more like a BBC producer's catamite from a deprived background! There was no sense of urgency or menace at all.
Tom Hanks is a good actor but miscast here, perhaps, and Audrey Tautou was very wooden. Jean Reno and Ian McKellen are very talented so I do think the blame had to rest with the director. Having said that, watch it by all means, but have some strong coffee on the go.