Ouch. This may explain why few people have seen any advance screenings of the film…
This is such a shame. Controversy aside, I think Ron Howard has delivered some pretty good flicks.
I like Apollo 13 and Parenthood.
Haven’t seen the Da Vinci code, but one of my claims to fame was reading the manuscript and rejecting it for movie consideration… shortly thereafter the book was published and sold 14 bazillion copies. Sometimes I wonder why I haven’t been fired…
If “some jeering laughter and a few derisive jabs” is the worst that “the world’s toughest movie crowd” (sorry, “arguably”), then I think it will probably do pretty well…
Yeah, a Cannes reception isn’t necessarily very germane to “how will it play in Peoria.” I’m not particularly interested to see it, but I disliked the book. Howard usually turns out a reasonably competent product though.
I think the critics experienced basically what most other people who see the film will experience, a raging case of “been there, read that”.
Let’s face it, The Davinci Code was a blockbuster BOOK that was a good, easy read and fairly entertaining both for it’s premise and it’s suspense. The movie simply tells the same story, which most people likely to see the film have already read, so everything that made the book decent, the plotline, the revelations, the whole idea behind it, has already been revealed. Thus the movie is basically about watching actors relive the novel. Boring.
So, as I haven’t read the book, I might actually enjoy the movie?
Considering that only five reviews have been posted on RT.com thus far, all of them bad, and the movie opens in two days, my guess is you’re going to get a massive commendation/promotion when this thing bombs.
We’ll see… But how often do people openly laugh at a movie? And did you read further down? It noted that typically people clap for even bad movies at Cannes. For this one, they hissed. HISSED.
I STILL may see it. I’m just saying that my expectations have been significantly lowered.
See … even if the movie gets crap-ass reviews, there is still a non-trivial chunk of tens of millions of people who read the book who will think “What the hell” and go see it (or will be dragged to see it by their girlfriend, as it looks like I will be). Even horrid movies like “Pearl Harbor” reached $100 M just by being an event movie during summer movie season. I don’t know what they spent on “Da Vinci Code” but I’m thinking it’ll be hard for them not to make money on it.
Edit: But if there’s any movie which SHOULD exceed the book and be successful on movie terms, it is this one, since the book was panned so much for being poorly written.
The book was a bad book that was inexplicably popular. I predict the movie will be a bad movie which will be inexplicably popular.
What does this sentence from that review mean?
Enormous public anticipation worldwide will result in explosive B.O. at the start in near-simultaneous release in most international territories.
Sounds sexy… except for the explosive B.O.
I assume it means Box Office. I HOPE it means Box Office.
I completely agree. There was so much ferver over the novel that I started reading it. Then, a not long after starting, I began forcing myself through it just to see what all the hoo-ha is about. “Breathless hyperbole” is how I believe Loyd described it, and he was dead-on. Crazy, frantic narrative wrapped around a few riddles surrounding an enigmatic premise.
I’m not surprised Opus Dei has their collective panties in a bunch over this. Brown’s strong suit isn’t research; in fact, he sounds like a typical, pompous jackhole in interviews, who unabashedly knows he’s playing fast-and-loose with history, but chooses not to fess up. Unfortunately, a book of this popularity will transplant that dubious research into the collective unconscious of the masses as truth.
With that in mind, there’s no way I’m paying to see this movie. I expect it to be a runaway success that spawns a sequel where Da Vinci himself creates a time machine and invents the Internet and UFOs. Oh, and he’ll be a Scientologist.
Yeah, the studio only needs half the people who read the book to go see the movie and they’ll turn a profit. This was a no-brainer from the suits point of view.
No one expects Godard.
Depending on how close to the book the movie is, this just may show people what a piece of shit the novel really is in terms of writing.
And the winner for the 2006 Oscars for best special effects is … <drumroll> the Da Vinci Code for invention of the Smell-A-Tron.
I never read the book, and reading the critics a expected a wreck of a movie, so maybe that’s why I was so surprised.
Imo, it’s a solid movie, a bit long, but the way the plot unfolds, the acting, the directing - it was all very good. It was certainly paced a bit slowly, but that didn’t stop me from mildly enjoying the movie. Is it flawed? Certainly, but it’s nowhere near as bad as some reviews state, and I liked that it didn’t look like your average hollywood thriller. It was… interesting to say the least. I can relate to this quote from ebert:
Let us begin, then, by agreeing that The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction. And that since everyone has read the novel, I need only give away one secret – that the movie follows the book religiously. While the book is a potboiler written with little grace and style, it does supply an intriguing plot. Luckily, Ron Howard is a better filmmaker than Dan Brown is a novelist; he follows Brown’s formula (exotic location, startling revelation, desperate chase scene, repeat as needed) and elevates it into a superior entertainment, with Tom Hanks as a theo-intellectual Indiana Jones.
…
The movie works; it’s involving, intriguing and constantly seems on the edge of startling revelations.
I don’t really get the hatred, since a lot of movies that i’ve seen are a LOT worse and have given better reviews.
I’m really curious what the rest here think of it, since I often find myself agreeing with the opinions on movies and series.
I thought the book made for a mediocre…book, but it seemed like it would translate pretty well to the big screen. The way every chapter in the book ends with “AND THEN THE CRAZIEST BULLSHIT EVERY HAPPENED” annoyed me while reading it, but in movie form I can see it working pretty well. I certainly don’t expect a lot from the film, but if it can capture the momentum of the book it should be alright.
Like I said, it’s not the best thing ever made, but to me it was easily a 7 or 8, worth the view. If you liked a beautiful mind (also by ron howard), there is a good chance that you’ll like this.