05/20/06 The Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci Code (2006), directed by Ron Howard

watched w/ Leslie; theater (Mission Valley Cinema, Raleigh, NC)

Here it is...one of the most controversial movies about one of the most controversial novels in a very long time...and it stars Hollywood box-office gold Tom Hanks, and was directed by Opie. C'mon, how much more vanilla can you get with the controversy? Considering the fact that I never did delve into the reading of said novel by Dan Brown, I knew of the brouhaha only through what I heard & saw on talk shows and newspaper articles. That being said, I think I went into the film purely as a spectator with hopes of seeing an adventure unfold. Ummm...it gets you half-way there. An average effort by all involved to stir the pot up some more through good acting and plot twists & turns than a backwards Carolina mountain highway. Tom Hanks plays renowned symbologist Robert Langdon, who while on a lecture circuit in France gets pulled into a murder mystery of seemingly ritualistic killing of a curator at the Louvre. The granddaughter of the curator turns out to be clever cryptologist Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou), who befriends Langdon on his quest to uncover the answer to the enigmatic riddle that unfolds with his being implicated in the murder plot. Constantly evading the detective (Jean Reno) on a mission to arrest them, and procuring the advice of trusted scholars (Ian McKellen) the two will stop at nothing to understand. Along the way it is revealed that another world behind Christianity exists in two opposing forces; Priory of Sion (secret society sworn to guard the truth of the religion) & Opus Dei (clandestine sect trying to uphold a shroud of lies of the same religion). It's all way to heavy to try & take sides...and it proves that it's all a nefarious plot to get you to both have faith & question everything. Thanks for clearing it up guys. The film does for Opus Dei what recent Nicholas Cage film "National Treasure" did for Freemasonry and Tom Cruise did for Scientology; letting us all know they are bit out there (and willing to knock Katie Holmes up).I'm not putting anyone down specifically here..."we're all mad here."

3 out of 5 stars