"I have a mind like a steel... uh... thingy." Patrick Logan's weblog.

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Saturday, May 20, 2006

The Da Vinci Code Movie

I saw The Da Vinci Code last night on a big, big screen. Ebert gave it 3 of 4 stars. I would give it 3.5 or 4 of 4.

I've read some review such as Shawn Levy's review in The Oregonian gave it a B- and he complained the movie did not move quickly enough. I also read that some actors just "mailed in" their performances, but at least not to the extent that I noticed.

I thought the movie moved well. Details were cut from the book, obviously. Some dialog and scenes changed a good bit, especially at the end I think. I read the book over a year ago.

The book really should not have made a good movie, I thought at least when I heard it would be done. The book is too much talking about the past and puzzle solving. As it turned out the director, scenarists, and effects people handled that well, much better than I thought it would be presented.

I think the movie has more humor than the book, and it works. I think the movie is a bit more conciliatory than the book to traditional Christians and even the Opus Dei nut jobs. Evangelicals generally will not be happy of course. Anyway they're busy drinking really bad punch out of really small glasses and eating really bad cookies, at their church listening to an "expert" arm them with the facts they need to convince their friends that this movie is just fiction.

Well, it's good fiction, better than most stories in "The Bible". I am going to see it again this weekend if possible. The sun is shining more than expected though.

1 comment:

Patrick Logan said...

"Are they really nut jobs?"

I have read several factual articles on the real Opus Dei. In my opinion, they have a mental illness.

"both claiming its fiction but presenting with claimed facts"

He's sold a lot of books, which I think was his aim. Maybe the same could be said of The Bible.

"I'm not sure on what basis you can say the stories are better than the Bible stories. What objective basis are you citing?"

Of course, "better" is a subjective claim, and so I am basing this on no objective basis whatsoever.

"Also, what is the value of truth in this whole discussion?"

I am not at all sure how one can discern "truth" in any of this.

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Portland, Oregon, United States
I'm usually writing from my favorite location on the planet, the pacific northwest of the u.s. I write for myself only and unless otherwise specified my posts here should not be taken as representing an official position of my employer. Contact me at my gee mail account, username patrickdlogan.