'Da Vinci' falls short of book but still entertaining

The first thing to remember when it comes to "The Da Vinci Code," Dan Brown's book or the Columbia movie, is that both are fiction. That means, made up.

The second thing is that the movie is not as good as the makers would hope, but that it is not a bad as the regular film critics would have you believe. It is better by far than most of the films that flicker on local screens. But it is a victim of its own publicity, or perhaps notoriety. How does a film live up to the hype and hysteria surrounding this one? Not possible, I fear.

Yes, the movie does move slowly, as director Ron Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman sought to get as much of the lengthy book on screen as possible in 148 minutes. But what a luxurious change after watching three or four coming attraction previews in which explosions, guns, sexuality and mayhem roared off the screen at double the normal volume.

Tom Hanks stars as Robert Langdon in "Da Vinci," as everyone but those spelunking for the last year knows. Somehow he doesn't match whatever picture one had of the hero, a supposed Harvard professor of symbology. He's more like Tom Hanks with longish hair, with little Ivy League about him.

Such is not the case for the heroine, Sophie, beautifully underplayed by French actress Audrey Tantou, who after this film is going to be on the "A" list of bankable stars. She has a wry grin and a pert if not beautiful face that goes a long way to making the film more enjoyable (let us hope that Hollywood does better by her than it has done Julette Bianche of "English Patient" fame).

Of course, this is a story of the Holy Grail, mixed in with a legend that Jesus married Mary Magdalen and fathered a child, whose offspring continue into today in France. (This is what the protesters are all upset about; apparently they don't know the difference between fiction and reality.)

The assassin is Silas, played with painful distinction by Paul Bettarny, who flagellates himself in between slaying Sophie's grandfather because of fear of what he could do to the Catholic church. His bloody, whipped body testifies to his seriousness of purpose and belief.

French police captain (and member of the allegedly sinister Opus Dei) Bezu Fache is threatening and determined but his character isn't really explained. The key player Bishop Aringarosa (Alfred Molina) is both venal and altruistic at the same time, something difficult to portray - but he does it nicely.

If there's a really juicy role here, it is that given to Ian McKellen as Sir Leigh Teabing, who may be half-crippled but is still pretty dangerous. McKellen is a bit over the top as he hobbles around his French villa on two canes (he gets by with one when he needs a free gun hand). He's got more theories than an anti-evolutionist reviewing Darwin. He also happens to have a private jet he can use to whisk Hanks and Tantou around Europe.

The plot is far too complex to be boiled down in a few hundred words. The action isn't however, as Langdon happens to be in Paris to give a lecture on symbology when an aged symbology expert is murdered in the Louvre. As he dies he writes a message in his own blood about his killer and Da Vinci. Fache calls on Langdon to interpret those last words. As he mulls them over, Sophie arrives as a police expert. The slain man is her grandfather and she joins Langdon in trying to unravel the puzzle and murder.

This takes the two of them around Europe, searching for and puzzling out clues, much like a scavenger hunt. They wind up at a medieval church in Scotland, where the whole mystery is blown away.

The ending, not exactly like that in the book, has Langdon and Sophie struggling with what it all meant. He tells her, "What matters is what you believe." He repeats the phrase a few minutes later, perhaps a way of making peace with the inevitable protesters. She walks away but turns and smiles hopefully at him and you suspect they will be together again some day.

One can hope.

"The Da Vinci Code," a Columbia Pictures release, is rated PG-13 for disturbing images, violence, some nudity, thematic material, brief drug references and mild sexual content. Running time: 148 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

Contact Sam Bauman at sbauman@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1236.