A History Lesson, sort of

Rating: 7/10 (18 November 2006)

Prof Robert Langdon (Hanks) is about to be accused of murdering the curator of the Louvre, but the way the curator's body is cut up provides clues to secrets hidden by Leonardo Da Vinci, and it is up to Sophie (Tautou), a police cryptologist, to convince Langdon that there is more to all this than a simple murder. Running away instead of being arrested sounds like a good idea to Langdon.
If you are a history-buff, you might agree that the findings of the Da Vinci Code are palatable. If you are not a history-buff you still might find this story, that starts at the time of Jesus Christ, interesting anyway. Questions: Were Mary Magdaline and Jesus married? Who was purported to be the real head of the Catholic Church? What is the Holy Grail and where is it? Do we have your attention now?
Whatever the beliefs of an audience, story is presented well and it flows quite logically. The clues come slow enough to allow an audience to understand the complexity of it all. The acting, dialogue, and photography, in general, are very good. I only found one flaw and it had to do with direction. When Langdon and Sophie escape from bank official with a gun, he is knocked down and the two run away. I would have made sure that bank official didn't get a chance to use the gun again, and, at the very least, take the gun, and then run; and, well he gets up and starts shooting for all he is worth.
Anyway, all questions are answered and you are not left hanging. Whether you agree with the answers is up to you. Remember, it's only a movie, and it's never too late to become a history buff and you can do your own research. Now, where did they put that Grail thing?