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THE DA VINCI CODE Send This Review to a Friend
Not having read the novel, I approach the film version of Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” with the intention of evaluating it purely as to how effective a movie it is. Not being a religious scholar, I won’t get into passing judgment on the dogma at play. On those stated terms, I find the film version no better or worse than many pretentious but competently made thrillers that are involving at some points, muddled at others, overlong and a let-down after the resolution. If you want your curiosity assuaged with those caveats in mind, you may want to opt for seeing director Ron Howard’s adaptation written by Akiva Goldsman.
Tom Hanks gives a low-key portrayal of Robert Langdon, the professor who is an expert on symbols and gets caught up in the machinations of Opus Dei versus those who want to keep alive the belief that Jesus was wed to Mary Magdalene with whom he had a child, a concept that derails Jesus' position as no mere mortal but the son of God. There is supposedly a code leading to proof of the supposition that Jesus has a line of descendents. Men will kill in the battle and the quest. It is hardly surprising that religious protests against the film have arisen.
French star Audrey Tautou blandly portrays Sophie Neveu, who is teamed with Langdon as the central figures in the chases and lethal struggles that occur in the wake of a mysterious murder in Paris’ Louvre museum. The film is at its best when Ian McKellen as the British scholar Leigh Teabing turns up. Picture-stealer that he can be, McKellen breathes life into the yarn. The most overtly vicious in the cast is Paul Bettany as the monk who flagellates himself and is a willing killer in carrying out his belief that he is a holy messenger. His body is a mess of self-inflicted wounds, which is something one might also say about parts of the screenplay. Jean Reno plays Bezu Fache of the French police and Alfred Molina is Bishop Aringarosa.
The action flits around internationally, and Howard’s filming is reasonably skillful. It’s the tale itself that can become confusing, and at times it becomes more a case of opus oy vey than Opus Dei. A Columbia Pictures release.
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