The DaVinci Code

I saw the movie today in a sold-out theater. Actually, I sat in the aisle to watch it because apparently more tickets were sold than the theater had seats available. So I've discovered, I think, the answer to the question, "what do you do with a poorly written book containing a great story?"

You make a trimmed-down, dumbed-down, fast-paced thriller. You stick to the heart of the story and fix the plot twists that, if left in, would require too much exposition. And that's pretty much what Ron Howard did. I'm baffled at the piles of bad reviews this movie has received. It's no Oscar contender, but it's a first-rate thriller, through and through. The conspiracy theorist in me has to believe that offended christians everywhere, be they movie reviewers, people who've seen to the movie, or people who would have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the theater have all united to claim what a bad movie it is. Don't buy into it. Really, when it comes right down to it, Roger Ebert's review in the Chicago Sun-Times pretty much hits the mark. See the movie for yourself.