More thoughts on The Da Vinci Code

I was at a media event for the Wisconsin Farm Technology Days in Sheboygan, which actually sounds like it’s going to be pretty cool. But because of my short trip to Oostburg I only had about five minutes to jot down my thoughts on “The Da Vinci Code” this morning.
As I was driving, I remembered a few other points I wanted to mention.
First of all, Audrey Tautou is great. She doesn’t smile a whole heck of a lot — unlike her signature character in Amelie (2001), — but she was perfect for the role; unlike Tom Hanks.
I like Hanks, more for his comedic roles than his dramatic parts, but he couldn’t pull off the Harvard educated professor role. I can’t really think of an American actor who could have pulled off the role better than him though. Maybe David Strathairn or George Clooney, but they were probably both busy with “Good Night and Good Luck.” Other than that nothing really comes to mind.
I also wanted to mention Ian McKellen (who can also be seen in X-Men 3 opening next week) who was remarkable as the obsessive Sir Leigh Teabing and Paul Bettany who was engaging as Silas, the murderous albino monk.
And it was cool to see a film without a silly, tacked on romantic subplot. Kudos to Howard, Brown and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman for avoiding that trap.
It’s also worth a mention to point out the irony of having the trailer for the remake of “The Omen” (which opens on June 6 — get it? 06-06-06, 666, like the Devil) showing before a film that analyses the history of Christianity. Maybe that’s what people were protesting. Or maybe it was the Mountain Dew commercial. That was more blasphemous than anything in the film. Paying to see a commercial. PHFFF!

"Smile Audrey...SMILE!" Picture courtesy of Sony.