The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

This is a film likely long anticipated by fan's of the Douglas Adams' book series of the same name--a book I have oft heard people commenting upon, a book I have oft thought sounded none so great from those comments. The trailers to this film, however, appeared pleasantly funny, so I decided to embark upon the journey and see what it was all about on May Day 2005 for the 9:40 evening edition over at the beloved Coral Ridge Mall theatre.

The beginning opens with a moment difficult for the rest of the movie to surpass. It is a hilarious rendition of a song supposedly sung by dolphins (or what they would sing if they could make us understand them anyway). From this opening scene, the films transitions to the beginning morning of a mediocre man having a horrible day. Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) lives in England, not sure where as I didn't write it down and didn't really care a great deal, and his house is going to be demolished. Lucky for him but unlucky for all the rest of us, Arthur has a friend, an alien played by Mos Def with a towel obsession, who is about to save him and take him on an adventure that will save Arthur from the fate that is about to befall poor planet earth.

The rest of the film follows Arthur on his journey to a happy conclusion. Along the way, we meet a cast of bizarre (or even zany might be more apt) characters, including Volgons who like awful poetry to the point of killing others who hear it, a president who kidnaps himself, a robot who is neurotic and depressed, and John Malkovich. Of all the characters, Arthur as played by Martin Freeman is not terribly exciting, interesting, or even so very great at acting the role. The best acting comes from Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beeblebrox, the man who became president due to being the worst dressed creature in the galaxy. His scenes are all entertaining, and his outfits alone make for a chuckle or two.

In the final score, this film was entertaining, the first scene very funny, and the end disappointing along with the primary character. It is worth a watch on DVD, but seeing on the silver screen not a necessity. I give it a decent at the top end of that range, just missing a good rating.

Please feel free to comment on this review or on the movie itself at the forum thread devoted to it at this location.