@Randem

...pretty much sucked. I didn't read the book, but in a way I'm glad I didn't. Everyone loved that book, and at least now I can read it and see it for being much better than the film, unlike my friends who read it and could only be disappointed in the movie.

Furthermore, I'm ready to swear off of Ron Howard completely. He's the perennial cock-tease of the film industry — always giving you something that's almost good but not quite, and then leaving you to finish the job yourself. He did it with Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13, Backdraft... all the way back to Willow, Cocoon, and Splash.

In fact, it's interesting to me as I look over Ron Howard's credits as a director to see how often he's worked with another perennial loser: Tom Hanks. Some actors, when surrounded by talent like Jean Reno and Ian McKellan, step it up and bring their “A” game. However, while I'd hate to think that what I saw from Da Vinci Code was Hanks's “A” game, I can't help believing that Philadelphia was a fluke, outside of which this loser has never done anything to impress me.

Bottom line? The movie was far too contrived and the story too spoon-fed. Subtlety is sacrificed completely, almost as if they don't think we could keep up. The “surprises” and “twists”, if you can call them that, were easy to see coming from miles away. And the whole experience is capped off by a painfully long ending that reminded me of Return of the King and my 45-minute ass-ache.

My friends who read the book have informed me that this is not the way it was written. Now I suppose I'll have to read it, and get the taste of this travesty out of my mouth.

Labels: movies, reviews