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To fans of Douglas Adams who’ve been fighting the urge to panic,
just one word of advice: DON’T!
Like the planet Earth, as described
within The Guide itself (though not referenced in the movie), the big-screen
version of Douglas Adams’ classic science fiction novel, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The
Galaxy, is “Mostly Harmless.” And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy presents a day in the life of
Englishman Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman), who awakens one morning to find bulldozers ready
to demolish his house to make way for a freeway bypass. Arthur then meets up with a past
acquaintance, Ford Prefect (Mos Def), an intergalactic hitchhiker who helps Arthur hitch
a ride off the planet moments before it’s destroyed to make way for a hyperspace bypass.
And the day has only just begun…
This version of Adams’ universe,
brought to life by director Garth Jennings and Adams himself (he wrote the first
revisions of the screenplay before his untimely death at the age of 49), shines in some
respects and is a trifle tarnished in others. The gloss and glitter are provided by
top-notch CGI special affects, the most breathtaking example being the inside of a planet
factory. Surpassing the CGI, however, are Henson animatronic creations, wonderfully
brought to life with a realism that allows us to see ourselves in their bureaucratic
tendencies—and possibly even their ability to write (and publicly recite) really bad
poetry.
Where the film tarnishes a bit is in its attempt to convey the
humor of the book to the screen, which may be a commentary on Adams’ writing more than
any fair
criticism of the film itself. Reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide was like
sitting down for a leisurely cup of tea with the writer himself (possibly at a restaurant
at
the end of the universe), listening to his sardonic voice and cutting wit explain,
with just enough detail, exactly how we’re supposed to stick a fish in our ear so we
might better understand the seemingly endless ‘babel’ that surrounds us (or at least
laugh a little at life’s many ironies). In the movie, though the filmmakers make a fine
attempt at compensation through the use of narration and delicious little peeks into
The Guide itself, much of Adams’ intimate narrative is lost, requiring someone
like Ford Prefect to come along and brutally shove a fish in our ear for us (which,
surprisingly enough, seems to work for the most part).
Sparkle and
tarnish aside, however, the cup of tea I was left with after watching The Hitchhiker’s
Guide to The Galaxy was decidedly flavorful, if for only two reasons: utterly superb
casting and possibly the best movie song since “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.”
Freeman’s understated portrayal of everyman Arthur Dent was spot-on, as was Mos Def’s
perfectly deadpan portrayal of Guide writer Prefect. Sam Rockwell was superbly
over-the-top as the shallow but handsome two-headed politician Zaphod Beeblebrox. And all
I can say about Zooey Deschanel’s portrayal of lovely earth girl Trillian is that I
haven’t been so smitten since Jan Smithers’ Bailey on “WKRP in
Cincinnati.”
As for the wonderfully inspired singing performance of so
many talented yet uncredited dolphins, I think I’ll just let them speak (or sing) for
themselves…
“So long, so long, so long, so long, so long…
So
long, so long, so long, so long, so long…
So long, so long, and thanks for all
the fish!”
