The Da Vinci Code

Ron Howard directs the 2006 film The Da Vinci Code, a thriller based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Dan Brown. The novel, of course, developed its fair share of controversy for rehashing old viewpoints and reintroducing secret society scenarios to develop and enhance the plot of a very basic thriller. Still, the novel swept the world and prompted several people to take sides in the battle of fictional work versus worldwide faith. Dan Brown’s adequate thriller was caught in the middle, getting more publicity than it deserved and taking the road to the inevitable: a feature film.

Howard (Cinderella Man, A Beautiful Mind) would take on the role of directing one of the most eagerly anticipated book-to-film projects since the Harry Potter saga. Of course, the film would also need a star, a big star, and who bigger than Tom Hanks to play an average protagonist in an average story? Hanks would be joined by Sir Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings, X-Men) and Audrey Tautou (Amelie, A Very Long Engagement) to help flesh out the film. So with the epitome of safe directors and safe lead actors in tow, The Da Vinci Code seemed aimed directly at turning Brown’s thriller into something grandiose and something that would soften the blow of rehashed controversy.

There is a plethora of differences between the book and the film, many of which are inconsequential and unnecessary plot devices used to help drive the film’s action further into the fray. The fault here is that Ron Howard miscues so much of the novel and miscalculates the effect of doing so to such a large degree that much of the film’s “detective work” becomes laughable guesswork. Hanks’ Langdon, for example, solving the anagram tremendously quickly to point to “Leonardo Da Vinci” is an unintentionally hilarious moment that, while subtly echoed in the pages of Brown’s book, isn’t done quite so quickly. Moments like this fill the film’s ghastly 149 minutes.

Let’s face it, The Da Vinci Code has a heap of problems. Not only was the film largely greeted by protesters of every kind, from those objecting to its apparent blasphemy to those objecting to its portrayal of albinos, but the film would be largely panned by critics as well. Howard crowds the film with content and yet somehow makes us feel tremendously empty, all at the same time. The mystery behind it is lost in the fray of convoluted swirling plots, implausible scenarios and bland characters. Some of that is the fault of Dan Brown, admittedly, but most of the blame for this lies on the shoulders of Howard and Hanks. Hanks makes for one of the most uninteresting lead characters of all time considering that he is supposed to be involved in solving one of the “biggest” mysteries in human history. That leaves the whole grandiose feeling we were supposed to get from the film’s context somewhere in the parking lot.

The film feels constantly like a rusty door on its hinges, squeaking and wailing away each time it is touched and waiting for someone to fix it by either oiling it up or ripping the damn thing off of its hinge and putting it out of its misery. The Da Vinci Code struggles to make noise, but only pecks at the surface of the potential for content within its context. It doesn’t help that Howard’s direction is often confusing and perplexing, choosing to focus in directly on some odd and unnecessary focal points for long periods of time before moving on. It almost seems like he purposely halts any potential for rising action and, instead, chooses to give us a few seconds glance and some spilled wine on a table while Alfred Molina makes a speech. Odd, indeed, and completely unnecessary given the context of the scene. Directorial decisions like this drove the film down.

So when we sum up The Da Vinci Code, what do we have? The film is boring, convoluted, crowded, the plot twists are silly and contrived, the acting talent is wasted and poorly executed, the characters are thin and boring, the film is excessively anti-historical and anti-religious to the point of becoming exhaustingly perplexing and the worst sin of all: it’s not the least bit entertaining. The Da Vinci Code is a mess of a film, sadly, created out of the ashes of an overblown and redundant hypothetical sprung from the mind of Dan Brown. How much the source material can be blamed for the failure of Ron Howard’s attempt is certainly up for grabs, of course.

1.5/10