May 18, 2006
By Matt Savelloni
"YOU CAN'T TRUST CODE THAT YOU DID NOT TOTALLY CREATE YOURSELF." - KEN THOMPSON
We are all susceptible to fads. Even in the rarified arena of literature, authors, publishers, agents, readers and critics alike all get swept up by the "next big thing." It's almost a foregone conclusion that these works eventually disappoint because expectations are as high as the Petronas Towers. THE FIRM, THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, THE CORRECTIONS, PROZAC NATION, EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED - the list of books whose PR promise a life-changing experience that never materializes is endless. Sure, there are works like PRESUMED INNNOCENT, the HARRY POTTER series and THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY that live up to lofty anticipations but these are the exceptions, not the rule. The latest red carpet read is Dan Brown's THE DAVINCI CODE, the biggest mystery of which may be its runaway success.
Over 40 million copies of THE DAVINCI CODE have been sold.
In hardcover.
Running through a plot summary would be fruitless for two reasons: one, you probably already know it and two, the fun rests entirely in CODE's breathless discovery and historical innuendo. Disclosing anything would only diffuse the modest suspense upon which it ultimately depends. But its pattern of meting out clues that lead to bigger and more audacious allegations loses steam at about the halfway point. Further undermining the urgency is the fact that Brown's pedigreed protagonists are no more than mere ciphers who are amazingly inept at actually solving the codes. From a prosaic standpoint, Brown's descriptive passages read like travel brochures and the final payoff is not at all shocking to anyone who has entertained even a passing interest in Christian mythology or at least been paying attention for the first 100 pages. In its final measure, CODE is a puzzle of increasingly diminished returns that sentient readers complete only out of a perfunctory sense of duty. After all, the best thing about homework is finishing it.
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"WHERE THERE IS MYSTERY, IT IS GENERALLY SUSPECTED THERE MUST ALSO BE EVIL." - LORD BYRON
Still, CODE commands interest. Perhaps realizing the cyclical pitfalls of his plot, Brown mixes in a relentless and uncompromising smear of a Christian powerhouse, Opus Dei, and a cartoon villain straight out of FOUL PLAY. Any author who integrates religious flagellation in a modern context gets major points for chutzpah. And there is no doubting the sheer propulsion of events. CODE chugs along like a bullet train and only as it nears its destination does it begin to decelerate.
Is any of this criticism fair? Am I being a contrarian just for the sake of rooting against the latest blue chip product? Hardly. A book is judged strictly by its artistic merit and entertainment value. CODE has little of the first but enough of the second to make you feel not totally guilty indulging it. The great irony is that the first Robert Langdon adventure, ANGELS & DEMONS, is far superior in every way to its flashier little brother. But CODE caught lightning in a bottle, obviously striking the worldwide reading public in a particular mood. That's not planning; that's sheer luck, and is supported by the notion that publishers began buying up and promoting a slew of CODE retreads the day after it hit #1, all of which have found remarkable success.
I have read THE DAVINCI CODE. I can now talk about it at cocktail parties. I can strike up a conversation with every other asshole on the subway reading the damnable thing. I know reading is fundamental and is intended to inspire enjoyment, edification or some combination thereof, but consuming THE DAVINCI CODE felt like I was just imitating the popular crowd or perhaps completing a merit badge. Either way, the verdict on Brown's actual writing has become secondary to his novel's success and that is an unfortunate sign of a gilded society more concerned with achievement than substance.
"MONEY IS OUR MADNESS, OUR VAST COLLECTIVE MADNESS." - DH LAWRENCE
Speaking of achievement, we now arrive at Imagine Entertainment, the moneymaking gold standard of Brian Grazer and Ron Howard. A partial list of their credits includes APOLLO 13, A BEAUTIFUL MIND, television's 24 and now THE DAVINCI CODE. Fitting that those involved in bringing Brown's oeuvre to the big screen also have unborn great-grandchildren who are already set for life. The film adaptation isn't so much an endeavor as it is a certainty - royalty caring for royalty. I point this out not to try and diminish Imagine's undeniable talent but to suggest that, despite the frail controversy, the film version of THE DAVINCI CODE is playing it safe.
After all, this is a book denounced by the Vatican that has twisted the panties of more than a few conservative channels and it is being directed by Opie, written by the guy who made schizophrenia cool if it scores you Jennifer Connelly and stars, respectively, said schizo's best imaginary friend, Amelie and a modern day Jimmy Stewart. Consider that Martin Scorsese (a devout New York Catholic who made bloody tours de force like TAXI DRIVER, MEAN STREETS and RAGING BULL) once directed a masterpiece inspired by a book read in seminaries with a no less daring - and still more faithful and dogmatic - premise in THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST and he was nearly excommunicated. None of the hubbub generated thus far by THE DAVINCI CODE comes close to the religious outrage ignited by Marty's film - or our own Kevin Smith's DOGMA for that matter. Why? Because CODE is being brought to you by Ron Howard and Tom Hanks, two of the most genuine, gifted, modest and affable figures in Tinseltown history.
Further diffusing the indignation is the fact that THE DAVINCI CODE is pure pulpy fiction. I mean, how many millions died at the hands of the Nazis? Now consider the countless films that employ Hitler and his merry band of freaks as the bad guys straight out of central casting. Does their fictional participation trivialize the actual horrors and brutality they inflicted during those dark years? This was the most common complaint lobbed against Roberto Benigni's LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL and who am I to deny that contention? Who is anyone for that matter? You can't tell people they shouldn't be offended, especially when it concerns issues so close to hearts and minds. I can only share this: my passion for World War II history was catalyzed more by RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, THE EAGLE HAS LANDED, A BRIDGE TOO FAR and all those war movies my Dad and I watched than by anything I ever read in school. Through cinema, I was led to the great stories of Stephen Ambrose, James Bradley, Jack Higgins, Cornelius Ryan and James Jones, some true, some false, some outstandingly in the middle. Never once did they diminish my sympathy, outrage, vigilance and respect for those who fought the Nazi scourge or those who perished in its path.
Realize that even the most academic documentary is a fiction, filtered through the eyes, ears, sensibility and agendas of its makers, contributors and detractors. And that is why expression endures, because is affords us the chance to play, to contemplate alternatives and to cast either a light of renewed understanding or a cloak of condemnation over those imperatives that make up our existence. Whatever your spiritual beliefs, I highly doubt the source of them is overly concerned with a movie when the real world is beset by terrorism, nuclear proliferation, an environment nearing volcanic temperatures and unstoppable pandemics.
I didn't believe THE DAVINCI CODE for a second. I found it initially exciting, challenging and curious even as I tired of its rote formula. If the producers were really interested in controversy, they would have cast Mickey Rourke, hired Tarantino to direct and Michael Tolkin to script (go rent THE RAPTURE; you'll see what I mean). This is Hollywood, folks, and I hold them to no higher standard than to reward my hard-earned dollars with an involving film. And Howard, Hanks and crew have more than proven they are capable of delivering. If THE DAVINCI CODE offends, then perhaps that is its purpose. Do not shy from it. By all means, speak your mind, voice your objection, maybe even picket in front of your local multiplex.
Unless of course you think your time might be better spent lending a hand down at a soup kitchen or battered woman's shelter.
The choice is yours.
"The good news is that Jesus is coming back. The bad news is that he's really pissed off." - Bob Hope
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