« We Seem to be Live Again | Main | Turning off comments »
May 01, 2005
Hitchhiking
Robbie and I juggled schedules so we were both free at the same time to see Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, something of a feat these days. Deb was disinterested so it came down to the two of us and an early Sunday performance worked best.
We laughed ourselves silly.
First, we got very excited at the Revenge of the Sith trailer, one I hadn’t seen before. We got in too late to see the Serenity trailer, which I had seen and liked on line but wanted to sample it on the big screen. Reports were that it was received in our theatre.
Anyway, I had read the book once upon a time, saw the BBC series, heard the BBC radio version on record and liked things about each one, since they were never identical. It was with some trepidation that I heard about changes but understood they were necessary ones, starting with the need for a linear enough storyline not to lose the audience.
Long ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Douglas Adams for Starlog and as we sat in a hotel bar, he seemed genuinely surprised by the American passion for what is basically very British humor (is that humour)? He wasn’t sure how many more ways it could be adapted but had early hopes for a big budget screen adaptation. At the time, he had no way of knowing that he’d uproot his family, move to California and die four years before his baby could be born.
With all that in mind, I settled in and was highly entertained. It certainly has to be the best looking of the various versions. The designs of the aliens, planets, ships, etc. was all very imaginative and true to the spirit of Adams’ prose. Kudos to the Henson folk for terrific creatures, notably the Vorgons. And Marvin was a delight.
The cast was well selected. Sam Rockwell was a lot of fun to watch although I was constantly reminded of Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow, which became distracting. Mos Def was also a neat choice for Ford Prefect, although he really needed more to do. I kept hearing how Trillian was the character most changed, and maybe she was but it worked for me. Zooey Deschanel is cute and adorable and again, I was reminded of a young Margot Kidder in terms of look and spunk.
Yes, the story had changes. And yes, all the humor wasn’t of a consistently high quality. It’s a shame one of the weakest gags was the last one in the film. Now, was it me, or when they fired up the Improbability Drive at the end, the very last image was a human face and I think it was Adams’.
As we left the theatre, an older couple was on their way in and stopped to ask us if it was any good. I said, absolutely…if you like that kind of humor. It’s silly and over-the-top in spots so if you like that sort of stuff, its well worth your time and money. If it’s not your cup of tea, well, the release of the movie tells me the summer season is well underway. And it started with a good, much needed, laugh.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at May 1, 2005 04:32 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.malibulist.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/2830
Comments
Yes, that was Douglas's face at the end of the film, and yes, I did cry when I saw it. Along with that, the answering machine for Magrethea was played by the actor who played Arthur in the BBC show, and, when Arthur/Ford/Zaphoid were at the Vogon waiting line, one of the characters was the Marvin suit for the BBC show. Supposedly some (if not all) of the extras that were on the line were from the BBC show or were mentioned in one of the stories, but I didn't recognize anyone other than Marvin.
Posted by: darrik at May 1, 2005 05:53 PM
Ooo. I was planning on giving the movie version a pass. But you liked it... cool. Haven't really been budgeting to see movies lately, but I'm a fan of the radio play (which I got on a vinyl record when I was in junior high) and the novel.
Posted by: Rachel at May 9, 2005 01:50 PM