One of 2006’s most anticipated films, The Da Vinci Code, received lukewarm and indifferent reviews when it played for critics at the Cannes Film Festival last night. The film, based on Dan Brown’s best selling book, often received laughs and jeers during the two and half hour screening. Critics blasted Hank’s performance (“zombie”), the script (“the dialogue was cheesy”), the run time (“I kept thinking of the Energizer Bunny, because it kept going and going and going, and not in a good way”) and the film itself (“a stodgy, grim thing”, “Nothing really works”). Many people were seen walking out before the film was over, and in one particular scene, a melodramatic line uttered by Tom Hanks drew “prolonged laughter and catcalls.”
Look, there are only a few good ways Hollywood can mock Jesus and ridicule Christianity without sounding too much like a bunch of self-righteous, indignant liberals, so maybe the critics shouldn’t call it a complete disaster. Sure, Jesus wasn’t wearing a top hat and dancing with a cane in the opening credits, but I’m sure the critics could’ve picked up on the overall gist.
