not so much...

Rating: 1/10 (24 May 2006)

while i respect the leading comment about this film, i have to say we walked out after 1.5 hrs- 45 minutes later than we had first discussed leaving. I respect Ron Howard and Tom Hanks very much, and I adore Ian McKellan, but it seemed such a waste of talent here. Admittedly, we have been saturated with the History Channel's renditions of Beyond, Behind, Over, and Around "the Da Vinci Code" and I believe this is why we felt this movie was God Awful. The acting is wooden and stilted, and the fact that everything is explained in cue-card style is annoying. I realize there are those who have not read the book and may not have cable, and perhaps to them there is a modicum of curiosity. But to the 40 million who bought the book (not counting those they lent it to) it is tiresome and pedantic and pedagogical and dull. My husband fell asleep, and I could not help throwing up my hands in dismay. Even the rote explanations were tiresome. While I respect being faithful to text, there comes a time when one must forgo the banality of recitation. Just before we decided to leave the theatre ( a $30 waste to us) I said "maybe the action will start and he won't ask or explain anything else" and boom... a rote and long winded discussion of something I already knew! again, I believe much of my problem derives from saturation with information re: the premise, but regardless, I felt the talent was wasted to make a plodding replica of an intriguing idea. PS- if the people who are threatening to die over this film saw it, I feel the population would remain stable