Unconstructive criticism
This movie review is a little late for the rest of the world, since the theatre run has been over for ages now and the DVD has been added to the Christmas stocking of at least one or two unfortunates (coal is worth a lot more in this energy-starved world). This evening, I had an intimate screening of the “Da Vinci Code” as part of an extended triple-header and at least the popcorn was cheap.
I’ve read the books by Dan Brown. All of them served to fill time while riding the bus; none are worth adding to a home library already overflowing with pulp fiction. The movie version has some lovely travelogue footage for those who lack a passport (and the money for a pan-European tour). Not much else, though. Perhaps the lovely accent of Audrey Tautou as cinnamon on the coffee will entice others. Don’t rent this one to deepen your eschatological studies.
Leaps of faith in this movie are shown by leaps in logical thinking; from the early scene where the main character discovers anagrams in a scrawled sentence (check out this piece for other clues) to the end sequence following the Rose Line to a night view of the “Pyramid” by I.M. Pei (this is not an Island reference, for those who google their way around our virtual world). How in Heaven’s Name can one accept that this is the point of focus on a line that stretches from pole to pole. Unless you revert to the mathematical definition of a line as a set of points, and you then reject all others.
For all the uproar in the press, for all those who have signed up for tours based on this story, I can only surmise that your faith wasn’t very deep to begin with, because this one didn’t shake mine, at all. After all, flagellation not only causes bleeding, it causes scars to form. Like the monk Silas, you will have no scarring as evidence that you’ve watched this movie. This is a trite one, Mr. Grinch. At least you receive a cryptex if you purchase the right DVD version.
