Overall Rating: ***
Synopsis:
A mysterious murder in the Louvre drags mild mannered symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) in to a dangerous hunt for the Holy Grail. When the French Police Chief, Bezu Fache (Jean Reno), thinks that Langdon commited murder, things get tense. Langdon must flee the French police with the aide of a young cryptologist, Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou). Langdon’s only hope of clearing his name is finding the Grail and drawing out the true murderer. But what is the Grail and how far will everyone go to find it?
Review:
Where to being for one of the most anticipated adaptations of the year? How about the simple truth. It was a dissappointment. Not at all what it could or should be. Unfortunately, it was some the minor facts that brought this movie down for me. Of course the unrealistically high expectations I had from the big names like Tom Hanks, Ron Howard, Ian McKellen, & Audrey Tautou didn’t help one bit. And of course I compared the cinematic experience with the literary experience and came up short.
In to the nitty gritty: The first big let down was Tom Hanks. I think he’s a great actor and has done great movies, but this performance was mediocre at best. In the novel, Robert Langdon is a pivitol character that is crucial to the evolution of the plot and is the key protaganist. In the film, Hank’s version of Langdon seems to simply be along for the ride, a spectator in events beyond him. Though the character is supposed to feel a little out of his league, he shouldn’t sit on the sideline the whole film. Audrey Tautou’s performance on the other hand was excellent. Her Sophie is the character we see in the novel.
The next thing that killed this film for me was the score. For some reason the soundtrack never seemed to suit the scenes that the audience sees. For example (and I’m going on memory for this so forgive any inaccuracies), the very brief car chase near the beginning of the film is accompanied by a very sweet and lazy piano melody that would suit a lullaby. This plot is one of urgency. The audience should feel the need and haste to solve the next clue in an ever evolving riddle. Instead of fast-paced orchestra pieces, we hear simple melodies. I just don’t think that really gives you the right feel when you’re anxiously waiting the next twist.
I have one more major complaint against this film, but I will add it to the end of this review because it contains a spoiler. If you chose to read it, you will ruin the story (assuming you haven’t read the novel). Overall, this wasn’t a bad movie. It just wasn’t as great as I hoped. If you haven’t seen it already, I wouldn’t spend the primetime money on it. I would go so far as to say its just worth the rental.
The final complaint with the film is that they changed the plot. I would have expected that they would make the film less anti-Catholic than the novel. Interestingly, the change actually makes the film more anti-Catholic. In the novel Bishop Manuel Aringarosa (Alfred Molina), has no idea that Silas’ (Paul Bettany) mission requires him to commit murder. In fact, Aringarosa believes that no harm will come to anyone and that he will simply be able to purchase the keystone. In the film however, Aringarosa is a willing participant of a complicated plot to commit murder and even mislead the police. This change actually makes the film more controversial than the novel. Not a good change in my opinion. In fact, it only adds another thing for me to criticize.