The Da Vinci Code: Press views
Film critics in the US and UK have delivered their verdicts on the hugely-hyped movie adaptation of Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code.
VARIETY - Todd McCarthy
A pulpy page-turner in its original incarnation as a huge international best-seller has become a stodgy, grim thing in the exceedingly literal-minded film version of The Da Vinci Code.
Director Ron Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman have conspired to drain any sense of fun out of the melodrama, leaving expectant audiences with an oppressively talky film that isn't exactly dull, but comes as close to it as one could imagine with such provocative material.
[The] result is perhaps the best thing the project's critics could have hoped for.
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER - Kirk Honeycutt
The movie really only catches fire after an hour, when Ian McKellen hobbles on the scene as the story's Sphinx-like Sir Leigh Teabing. Here is the one actor having fun with his role and playing a character rather than a piece to a puzzle.
Howard proves a smart choice as a director because his middlebrow tastes inspire him to go for broad strokes and forget making any real sense of these logic-busters.
But why did he allow such a solid, attractive cast to turn in such stiff, unappealing performances?
Da Vinci never rises to the level of a guilty pleasure. Too much guilt. Not enough pleasure.
LOS ANGELES TIMES - Kenneth Turan
If Brown's novel has something of the excitement of a nervy leap into the void, the script by Goldsman has some of the paint-by-numbers qualities of a Classics Illustrated comic book.
Though there has been some monkeying with plot details, especially at the end, plus some noteworthy thematic exclusions and additions, the two hour and 32 minute film is careful to be as faithful as it feels it can be to all of the book's major plot elements.
As to director Howard, he too comes off as a kind of emcee, intent on not getting in the way of this juggernaut of a story.
VARIETY - Todd McCarthy
A pulpy page-turner in its original incarnation as a huge international best-seller has become a stodgy, grim thing in the exceedingly literal-minded film version of The Da Vinci Code.
Director Ron Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman have conspired to drain any sense of fun out of the melodrama, leaving expectant audiences with an oppressively talky film that isn't exactly dull, but comes as close to it as one could imagine with such provocative material.
[The] result is perhaps the best thing the project's critics could have hoped for.
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER - Kirk Honeycutt
The movie really only catches fire after an hour, when Ian McKellen hobbles on the scene as the story's Sphinx-like Sir Leigh Teabing. Here is the one actor having fun with his role and playing a character rather than a piece to a puzzle.
Howard proves a smart choice as a director because his middlebrow tastes inspire him to go for broad strokes and forget making any real sense of these logic-busters.
But why did he allow such a solid, attractive cast to turn in such stiff, unappealing performances?
Da Vinci never rises to the level of a guilty pleasure. Too much guilt. Not enough pleasure.
LOS ANGELES TIMES - Kenneth Turan
If Brown's novel has something of the excitement of a nervy leap into the void, the script by Goldsman has some of the paint-by-numbers qualities of a Classics Illustrated comic book.
Though there has been some monkeying with plot details, especially at the end, plus some noteworthy thematic exclusions and additions, the two hour and 32 minute film is careful to be as faithful as it feels it can be to all of the book's major plot elements.
As to director Howard, he too comes off as a kind of emcee, intent on not getting in the way of this juggernaut of a story.
posted by Movie news blog at 12:28 AM
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