The Da Vinci Code (2006) Movie Information:

The Da Vinci Code (2006) Directed by: Ron Howard The Da Vinci Code (2006) Written by: Akiva Goldsman The Da Vinci Code (2006) Cast: Paul Bettany, Tom Hanks, Ian McKellen, Alfred Molina, Jean Reno, Audrey Tautou

The Da Vinci Code (2006) U.S. Distributor: Columbia Pictures The Da Vinci Code (2006) U.K. Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Our Rating: User Rating:  Log in to rate this movie

The Da Vinci Code (2006) Synopsis:

While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci -- clues visible for all to see -- yet ingeniously disguised by the painter. Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion -- an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others. In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who seems to anticipate their every move. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's ancient secret and an explosive historical truth will be lost forever.

The Da Vinci Code (2006) Movie Review:

After the murder of curator at the Louvre, Robert Langdon (Hanks) is asked by the French police to help in their investigation but Captain Fache (Reno) believes that the American academic could be involved. When Sophie Neveu (Tautou) arrives at the scene however, she revels that the victim has left messages for him and her to follow that could lead them to discovering a secret that could shake the very foundations of human history.

Author Dan Brown’s phenomenally successful novel was always bound to be adapted into a movie but can the film capture what drew the readers in?

When it was announced that Oscar winners director Ron Howard and actor Tom Hanks were going to bring the best selling novel to the silver screen, fans of the book must have been ecstatic and for most part they had the right to be. Both the director and actor’s track record for success has been relentless over the years and it continues here but most of this is more to do with the cinematic plotline of the book than anything either of the two Hollywood big hitters could do.

Dan Brown’s novel has been surrounded by controversy ever since it was released. Because of the nature of the storyline that deals with Catholic Church, the validity of the Bible and the Holy Grail, religious groups were bound upset and even distressed by the book and the film’s revelations. The author and the filmmakers have always stressed that ‘The Da Vinci Code’ is only a work of fiction and an adventure story that shouldn’t be taken seriously but both the way the novel and the film are written and produced, you can see why organised Christian religion could see this as blasphemous work. This attention however has made the book one of the most successful novels in recent history and might make the film just as much of a hit.

A behemoth of a novel doesn’t always make a good movie and just because ‘The Da Vinci Code’ is an almost legendary book it doesn’t guarantee that it can be adapted to the silver screen. Director Ron Howard and his fellow Oscar winning screenwriter capture the essence of the story but fail in parts to make it as exciting as it could have been. Due to the constraints of the story and the continuous flashbacks that offer insights into the two lead characters backgrounds, the pace of the movie is a little slow in parts with only two supporting characters pulling you back into the story.

Silas, the devoted to cause monk and Sir Leigh Teabing, the Grail obsessed scholar are expertly played by Paul Bettany and Ian McKellen. Both of these characters are key to the momentum of the story and inject some much needed pace into the movie. Bettany excels as the albino assassin, who is totally committed to keeping the secrets of Vatican-sanctioned organization Opus Dei. His level of devotion is extreme and relentless with Bettany throwing himself into the role. Whenever you cast Sir Ian McKellen in a role you know he is going to steal every scene he graces. As the world’s foremost authority on the Holy Grail, his studies have almost become an obsession and McKellen reflects this is his expertly driven performance.

Were the two supporting character are strongly played, the same can’t be said for the two leads. Tom Hanks sports a mini-mullet and a constant frown as Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon and the problem is that he doesn’t really have what it takes to convince as Dan Brown’s protagonist. The beautiful and talented Audrey Tautou seems to struggle as French cryptologist Sophie Neveu. She just doesn’t look comfortable in the role but she is still a lot more watchable than many Hollywood actresses.

Even with all the hype and controversy, ‘The Da Vinci Code’ is in essence an intriguing fictional thriller that will draw you in from the off. While the film is overlong and the fact that the two leads are miscast, it is Dan Brown’s story that will get you thinking and even asking some questions about what you have seen unfold onscreen. The code may take a while to break but you will be trying to trying to do it all the way through.

Our Rating: User Rating:  Log in to rate this movie

The Da Vinci Code (2006) review written by: Jamie Kelwick