It was really nice of Dan Brown and Ron Howard to give our local ministers a sermon topic for this week. I passed several churches that had titles like "The Da Vinci Code: Fact or Fiction?" on their marquis. They could have saved their breath. The movie version really took pains to placate the religious zealots.
We made it to the 4:15 showing of the movie at Camelot Theater. I was hoping to spot some protesters, maybe even get a picture of one. I needn’t hold my breath on that account. The theater was almost empty when we got there. Even by showtime the large auditorium wasn’t full. I wonder about the financial stability of the camelot.
As for the movie itself, much has already been written, and I’ll not repeat the critics. It was long – over two and a half hours. However, there wasn’t much more that could have been cut and still maintain the integrity of the film. There were some parts that were needlessly prolonged, such as the self-flagellation of the monk, Silas. And there were parts that could have taken a bit more time, such as Langdon and Neuveau’s deliberations in the Louvre.
In any book-to-movie conversion, there are going to be differences between the versions. In this case, some of the changes make the movie internally inconsistent. At first we see Tom Hank’s Langdon as the expert symbologist, with a specialty in the worship of the divine feminine. Saunier’s dying wish is to involve him in the case, so he must be good at it. However, when Langdon arrives at Sir Teabing’s home and hear’s Teabing’s description of the Grail, he reacts with incredulity. I’m sure this was a consession to the religious crowd that has so many problems with the story, but it creates a glaring plot hole. Why would he be incredulous if he is such an expert in the field?
Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
So, other than those minor glitches, I did enjoy the movie. The scenery and cinematography were outstanding. I’m sure the music score will be one of those nominated for an award. There was plenty of action It will probably wind up on our shelf when the DVD comes out.
One final thing – this website has created a tour of the locations in the Da Vinci Code using Google Maps and Google Earth. There is a Google Earth KMZ file available for download. Quite interesting.