Customer Reviews

FORREST GUMP PLAYING DETECTIVE - By: S. Sander, 27 Nov 2008
THIS IS ONE OF THE WORST MOVIES EVER.IT IS REALLY BORING.
WHAT COULD BE WORSE THAN WATCHING FORREST GUMP PLAYING DETECTIVE IN A MUSEUM.

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Better than you might think - By: Mr. A. Whiteside, 25 Oct 2008
I remember when this movie first came out & it received an absolute barrage of negative reviews.I have seen it three times now & enjoyed it each & every time.Yes,it is complex & may be a bit too long,but Ron Howard ties everything together very well & does a fine job with his direction.

The acting is fine throughout with Tom Hanks giving one of his best performances despite many people saying that the role didn't suit him.The best performance comes from Ian McKellen though who pretty much dominates every scene he is in.Audrey Tautou does look uncomfortable at times but is lovely & the rest of the cast is fine.

With excellent locations,very good music & a story that makes you think,'The Da Vinci Code' may well come as a pleasant surprise.I have no hesitationin giving it four stars out of five.There are also several interesting extras on the two disc edition.

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It did well to stick to the book. - By: Omac, 18 Oct 2008
The Plot
When the curator of the Louvre is murdered, number one suspect, Havard Professor Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is calledin to solve the cryptic messages that were left behind. Soon enough he is following a trail of clues through the works of Da Vinci, with the help of cryptologist Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tauton). From galleriesin France, to churchesin England, the pair are hunted by the police & a deadly killer, sent ot stop the truth from ever getting out.

The Characters
Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) - A Havard Professor who's books on Religous Symbols interested the head of a powerful brotherhood, ultimately leading him to discover one of the biggest cover-ups ever.
Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tauton) - The French cryptologist who gets caught upin the mess through family connections & ends up becoming a wanted criminal.
Leigh Teabing (Ian McKellen) - The retired historian who's knowledge on the Holy Grail brings Robert & Sophie to his front door.

Other Characters
Captain Bezu Fache (Jean Reno)
Bishop Aringarosa (Alfred Molina)
Silas (Paul Bettany)

Review
The critiscm following the film is mainly the critics who didnt like the book. The film isnt bad, it is just some people who never liked the story anyway.
Everyone had a good performance (although Hanks was maybe a miss-cast) & Jean Reno & Ian McKellen were especially good.
The film stuck to the book very well for the first half but they probably decided they were running out of time & mist a few majoy bits out towards the end.
Some say the film was too long but it needs to be if you are going to have a realistic attempt of keeping the story close to a 600 page book. It was interesting all the way through & it is defiantely one you can watch again.

Overall a thouroughly enjoyable watch & I recommened it to anyone who liked the book. 10/10!

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endless - By: Matthew H, 29 Sep 2008
The Da Vinci Code (it could have been called any number of things) is the type of movie that ages the viewer. Interminable & dull, entire geological ages come & go, glaciers advance & retreat, mountain ranges rise & fall, before the film, having passed through one banal scene to the next, finally releases its tortuous grip on the exhausted viewer. Frankly, I could not care a hoot about the story of Jesus (although a better plot would have been one that questioned his existence at all), so I was, obviously, very bored by the scenes during which sombody explains christ's specious history to another person, & then that person explains it again to the really dull person who wasn't listening.

And then there is the acting. Apart from Gandalf, who is too good to bein this movie, the performances are entirely lifeless, particularly between the two leads who, it would appear, don't like each other.

Finally though, the real villianin all of this, the director. Ron Howard! His pacing of the scenes, & his desire to have absolutely everything explained, destroys any chance the film had of being passable as 90 minutes entertainment. He should be shot.

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bold attempt, poor movie... - By: H. Serkan SILAHSOR, 22 Aug 2008
First off, let's admit that the book itself was an helluva bold attempt, a real phenomena because Brown repopularized an old theory (that the Bible was a work commissioned by the Roman Emperor Constantine during the First Council of Nicaeain the 4th century, & here Christ was elevated to divine status for political reasons), making serious assertions about the origins of the Bible, the Holy Grail, the Catholic Church & the divinity of Christ. These are critically controversial debates that must be left to the theologians.

Another thing is that making a movie out of such a "dangerous" subject is another bold attempt, albeit turned out to be quite unsatisfactory at the end. Cinematically, the film is nothing but another stylized, big-budget crap; but it hit the box office thanks to the popularity of the book & its box-office draws like Hanks, Tautou & Reno. The film uses every possible kind of trite Hollywood cliches from beginning to end. In a dark environment characterized by mystery within mystery & conspiracy within conspiracy, every riddle is untangled like taking candy from a baby!!!... The invulnerability of the protagonists makes it a third-rate Indiana Jones type of stuff.

I read the book twice & really enjoyed, & must say that the majority of the problems come from the direction & screenplay. OK, I must admit that translating a thick book to screen is not a cinch. The main trouble is character development, depth & tension. What worksin a 600-page book does not workin a 140 minutes movie. The truth is that Ron Howard screwed up the beautiful story. Also, Hanks is miscast as Dr. Langdon; Jeff Bridges or Liam Neeson would have been a better choice. On the other hand, Tautou, & the supporting cast especially McKellen & Bettany delivers satisfactory performances.

Last word: don't forget that the plot is based on fiction (although Don Brown says that 99% is true!!!), so no need to get upin arms about it..... (2.5/5.0)