The Da Vinci Code
Columbia Pictures, 2006
Cast: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Paul Bettany
Director: Ron Howard
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Plot Summary: A curator of the Louvre is murdered and an American symbologist is called in for questioning. As it turns out he is the prime suspect, but he is warned by a police cryptologist. While running from the law both must solve the mystery of the murder, which leads to many secrets of the Christian faith.
Okay, first off I am not going to pan this film out of hand. It's amusing to see this happen, really. I think two broad factors are involved here: 1) any movie that receives massive hype by the popular press is automatically dismissed by many of the critics today. They both resent such popularity and think that they must show their superiority by slamming such "popular tripe". 2) The subject matter is touchy (religion) and it's better to be safe than sorry. It could even be either consciously or subconsciously offensive to many, although I doubt any would admit such feelings.
As both neutral to the popular press (perhaps bemused is the best term) and a non-theist I can watch this film with a open mind. I also read the book, and it's interesting to see what parts they decided to keep, others discard, others to make up on the spot.
First off, this is a very talky drama. People do much proclaiming. It's all very serious except for the humor and cheer displayed by Sir Leah Teabing, played by Ian McKellen. He is the Da Vinci/symbologist expert that Dr. Robert Langdon (Hanks) and Sophie Neveu (Tautou) visit in their search for the truth. Despite having the most to proclaim/explain about, Sir Leigh manages to do it with energy and the occasional stab at humor.
The chase around France seems believable to me. Some movie chases seem contrived and unbelievable, but this one is about right. The police aren't generally shown to be chumps, although the main characters do manage to evade capture (of course). At least until the end, where the right person is put in jail. That comes after the explanation, where the main antagonist gets a chance to put forth their reasons for scattering bodies all over the place.
And lastly I'll touch on the subject matter. Not being religious or Christian it's impossible for me to tell truth from fiction. But from what little I know I can state that it seems at least slightly believable. up to a point. That there was massive politics in the Church I do not doubt a wit: that is human nature. But keeping a secret going for over two thousand years I find hard to swallow.
Bottom line: as a drama/chase, this offering is believable but very, very talky and slow. There are better ones out there, "National Treasure" being one that springs to mind. I would say that this is a good movie (poor, fair, good, and great). I was entertained and enjoyed most of it, which I suppose is all you can ask for.
