The Da Vinci Code

Dir: Ron Howard

2006

**

I like a bit of sudoku during a long train journey but I was never that interested in reading Dan Brown's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade rip off (main character Robert Langdon even being mentioned as looking like a 'Harrison Ford in Harris Tweed'), no matter how popular it became. It is a work of fiction, Brown has stated categorically that, as well as copying the works of other conspiracy writers, he wrote Robert Langdon as an adventurer of his fantasy, conjuring up puzzles based on famous landmarks and historical and largely religious artefacts. There is an overblown conspiracy theory thrown in also, because people love puzzles and they love conspiracy theories, mystery literature is full of it and he tapped into something with a winning formula and made handfuls of other authors wonder why they hadn't thought of it first, with many coming forward claiming that they had. However, many fans of the book became convinced that Brown was lying about it being fiction and believe The Da Vinci Code to be absolutely true. I find this aspect of the book more interesting than the story but to be honest, any book that upsets the likes of the Vatican, Catholic Church, Priory of Sion and Opus Dei is alright in my book. I've not read the book so I can only review the adaptation, with that in mind, Tom Hanks wasn't the first person that came to mind when I thought 'Harrison Ford in Harris Tweed', especially not with foppish hair. He's okay I suppose, I can think of many other actors who I would have chosen over him but I can't think of many who couldn't have made a good job of it, such is the simplicity of the character. I enjoyed some of the mystery, I think it should have been less of an action film and more of a problem solving venture. I enjoyed all the places they visited, thought that most of the links were clever and it held my attention. I think what I enjoyed most about it though was just how ridiculous it all was. I've given it a low star rating because of how ridiculous it was but there was something outrageously stupid about being chased by an albino monk that I both loved and hated. Adding humour would have been a mistake, so it was always going to be a poor man's contemporary Indiana Jones, its biggest mistake was trying to make it into something else at the same time, adding far too much espionage stuff, making it also feel like a poor man's James Bond. I suspect the book was probably more scavenger hunt than car chasing, it's a shame the film tried too hard to cater for everyone. The supporting cast is strong and dependable; Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Alfred Molina, Jürgen Prochnow, Jean Reno and Paul Bettany all do a good job and Ron Howard's direction is fine. Great idea, not such a great film, I only really like it because it caused some very stupid people to make a mockery of themselves and I think that the fact that so many religious organisations protested so much, they only made themselves sound less believable and Brown's novel more believable, which I find hilarious. It's not original but it's clever and I like what Brown has achieved but seriously, after all the controversy, who was responsible for Tom Hank's hair?