The Da Vinci Code (12A)

Directed by Ron Howard
Written by Dan Brown (novel), Akiva Goldsman (screenplay)
On general release from 19th May 2006

Reviewed by Amanda DeAngeles

If you can read, read Dan Brown's book. If not, go see the film anyway, especially if you are Christian. If you doubt your faith enough to worry about this movie's affect on it then you already know the story, you have been told it since you were a child. It is completely plausible that history was misinterpreted. Isn't it time to take that jigsaw out of the box and put the pieces together?

Ron Howard does a great job of staying true to the written plot - only omitting Walt Disney's alleged affiliation with Opus Dei - but this is far removed from his best work as director. The film lacked the atmosphere and pace of the book. I guess, so many twists and turns are difficult to fit into a feature-length film.

Tom Hanks turns Professor Robert Langdon into an endearing, bumbling fool. Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou) is a pretty female lead, but she needed to have an intelligent, Bond Girl charisma, which she lacked here. It is left to Ian McKellen, Jean Reno and Paul Bettany to hold the film together.

I think the accusations of plagiarism coincided well with the pre-release of this movie. A calculated publicity stunt? You decide.