“Don't Panic” are the words
emblazoned on the cover of the legendary, electronic guide to
absolutely everything known as “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the
Galaxy.” Good advice for earthling Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman),
whose quiet life is moderately upset by the pending demolition of his
home to make way for a highway bypass. Arthur doesn't have long to
stew over that, however, as he quickly learns that 1) his best
friend, Ford Prefect (Mos Def), is actually an alien, and 2) the
earth is about to be demolished to make way for an interstellar
bypass.
Everyone and everything on earth is
destroyed except for the dolphins (who tried to warn us) and Arthur
and Ford, who use an electronic “thumb” to hitch a ride
off-planet. The two eventually discover that Arthur is not actually
the only surviving earthling. His old crush, Tricia (Zooey
Deschanel), has been out galaxy-hopping with the incorrigible
President of the Galaxy, Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell). The four
of them set out to find an ancient computer called Deep Thought,
which will give them the ultimate Question to life, the universe, and
everything. (Deep Thought has already announced the ultimate Answer,
which is 42.) Oh, and Zaphod has 2 heads.
I've given away a lot of plot there,
but it's only the tip of the iceberg. I felt like you needed some
concept of what you are getting into, assuming you are one of the few
who isn't familiar with Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide series of
books. I tend to think that there are two kinds of people: 1) people
who have read the books (and most likely have seen this movie) and 2)
people who won't like them.
That may be presumptuous, though.
Maybe you've heard of the series, but haven't dipped your toe in,
yet. Maybe you're a fan of the books, but missed the movie the first
time around, and you're wondering if it's worth your time. The
answer is, it depends how much you value your time.
This issue here is that even one
Douglas Adams book is a lot to try to pack into a movie. The book
this is based on is chock full of arch humor and galactic adventure.
The movie represents a noble failure to capture all that, rushing
from one gonzo scene to the next. Key points, such as the Guide's
advice to all galactic hitchhikers to carry a towel, get glossed
over, serving as in-jokes at best. The movie also has a more
mass-market, romantic ending that is needlessly sappy. Fortunately,
the outstanding cast prevents this from being a total failure. The
four major players are perfectly suited for their characters, and the
story is seasoned with appearances by the likes of John Malkovich and
Bill Nighy, with Alan Rickman and Helen Mirren lending their voices
to robots.
With all this star-power, the movie
has some fun moments. Ultimately, though, this is a telling that can
only be fully understood by fans of the book, who will likely be
disappointed by it.
2.5 stars out of 5
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