The Bench

The Bench

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Chi Code is one of those movies that grossed more than any movie (or Dan Brown) critic could ever imagine despite its *ho-humm* and somewhat *pant pant* story-telling.  Compared to the book, it has several letdowns and (at least) something I was happy about.  Honestly.  I loved the novel, even made a review about it last 2004, and watching DVC–the most eagerly anticipated movie of 2006 and the subject of every religious conservative and some self-righteous politicians’ debate–cost me not just a hundred-and-fifty bucks.

Letdown #1: Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon.   I had to admit that Hanks received a snort from me upon knowing that he’d be playing the smart Langdon.  First of all, I never imagined that he would be the right guy to do the detective/cat-and-mouse-chase/Indiana Jones roles.  Actually, I was rooting for John Cusack (ConAir and Serendipity) or Kevin Spacey (American Beauty and Superman Returns), since to me, they fit the part well.  Sure, Cusack has played in a romantic film like Hanks, and sure, Hanks has played in a Stephen King adaptation, but well, as much as I wanted to think that Hanks should just stick to drama and romance flicks, he probably just can’t.  Ohweeeeellz.

Letdown #2: The ‘little things’ (i.e. the Langdon jokes) that also contributed to the book’s grand success were removed since the movie concentrated more on the major events.  Sure, it is expected that movie adaptations are not to be exact as their literary counterparts; it’s Hollywood’s thing even before.  But seriously, I knew I should be feeling sorry, deeply hurt even, for Silas for being the wrong man at the wrong time acting as the angel of death to the Christ he so loved, but the build-up of the sympathy viewers should have felt was prematurely developed. 

There is not enough character development, too.  

I am happy for one thing, though: Audrey Tautou as Sophie Neveu.  Wow.  I like her the moment I laid eyes on her.  When she started to speak with her French accent, She was the exact Sophie that existed in the head while reading the book.  I didn’t know, until now, that she was the lead actress behind the award-winning French film Amélie. I haven’t seen the film yet and, really, I didn’t recognize this playful-looking femme in the poster as the Tautou we all know now.

Conclusion

About a couple of years ago, I said to myself that there are stories that are better told on paper, and there are stories that are better told on screen.  I thought I was only making a philosophy about books turning into movies, a field that I am apparently not an expert on.  I love watching movies and I love reading books.  I’ve also read a number of books that turned into movies and watched movies that turned into books.  The first book-turned-movie that disappointed me was Stephen King’s Needful Things.  King is my favorite writer, and I love Needful Things so much I finished all 600+ pages (if I’m not mistaken) in two days almost without stopping.  Yet I regretted very much watching the movie.

So this is what I did so that I won’t get disappointed when something like it happens again: read the book or watch the movie, but never EVER do both. 

Why did I watch DVC then?  (1) A friend asked us to watch it with her, (2) I want to see the lovely Sophie in action, and (3) to prove that the abovementioned philosophy I concocted is wrong. 

About the book
About the film
About Dan Brown
Dan Brown’s Official Web Site

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Kudos to TinTin
for sending me the “The Bench…Chi” joke
Rock on, girl! \m/

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