Nice job by Ron Howard

Rating: 8/10 (12 June 2006)

Saw it with the wife and friends over weekend. Having read the book may have been an advantage, as the couple we were with said they were hopelessly lost for the first half of the film. Ron Howard is a talented director who does a very good job with this material. I would think that some of the puzzles and most of the historical background would be pretty hard to convey in film. In fact I could almost see Howard wincing as he was forced to use those History Channel like recreations of the past with intentionally blurred film, computer generated crowds, and costumed non speaking role extras. Even with millions in the budget, it still looks made for TV during those scenes.
On the plus side, the movie keeps moving, and Audrey Tautou is not hard to watch at least for me.
As an adventure yarn, it reminds me of the Hitchcock films. A common ordinary man is thrust by circumstance into international intrigue. Forced into the situation, he uses common sense, American (British) values, and an amazing amount of luck, to defeat an organized and powerful foe. He also saves the female lead while at it.
If you see this movie as an attack on your faith, I would suggest re-evaluating your beliefs. Those Catholics who are true believers would never have their faith shaken by a work of fiction like this movie. No more than a movie about the "Protocols of Zion" would shake the belief of an orthodox Jew, or the works of Salman Rushdie would affect true believers of Islam.