The Da Vinci Code
2006, directed by Ron Howard, starring Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Jean Reno, Paul Bettany, Aldred Molina

The problem with going to the most eagerly-anticipated film of the year is that you are assaulted by opinions on all sides even before you see it, and not surprisingly The Da Vinci Code was roundly panned by the critics. But I refused to be swayed, I went in with an open mind, and... well it's not that good really. Part of the problem is the book itself ñ just about everybody's read it, so you know what's going to happen in the film , particularly as director Ron Howard supplies a very faithful adaptation of Dan Brown's work. Take all the controversy away and the novel remains a page-turning thriller, but the film doesn't live up to this premise ñ the plot plods along, making it easy to lose interest. Stars Tom Hanks (wearing a ridiculous bouffant hairdo) and Audrey Tautou do their best to spark, but are generally outplayed by Ian McKellen's Sir Leigh Teabing, Jean Reno as detective Beau Fache and Paul Bettany, superb as the chilling monk Silas. There are some strange loose ends ñ central character Fache just disappears off screen at the end for example, and some pretty wooden lines, my personal favourite definitely being "Quick we need a library!" or something close to that. The film is an adequate portrayal, but only adequate, and quickly forgotten. I hear, however, that there is talk of filming Brown's previous work "Angels & Demons", which boasts the most preposterous last 50 pages of any novel - oh dear...