Dan Brown's best-selling book THE DA VINCI CODE gets adapted for thebig screen thanks to director Ron Howard (CINDERELLA MAN), who helmsthis big budget production. Veteran actor Tom Hanks stars as professorRobert Langdon, whose Parisian lecture tour on feminine symbolism getsdisrupted when he's implicated in a murder at the Louvre. Co-starringwith Hanks is Audrey Tautou (AMELIE), the French police analyst whocomes to Langdon's aid and who may hold the key to some of themysteries. The cast is fleshed out by Jean Reno as a hangdog Frenchdetective who thinks he can trick Langdon into a confession; PaulBettany as Silas, the murderous monk; Alfred Molina as an evil Catholiccardinal; and Ian McKellan, who steals the movie in the second act as acrotchety old authority on the Holy Grail. During the course of thefilm, all sorts of riddles, keys, clues, and enigmas are thrown in ourhero's path, along with bullets, knives, and devious betrayals.Cinematographer Salvatore Toltino shoots in a dark and somber style,with lots of detailed flashbacks to grim scenes from ancient Rome, theCrusades, and the witch hunts of the Middle Ages. Tautou looks gorgeousin the perpetual dim light, as does the ancient French and Britisharchitecture. With so many centuries of hidden knowledge, cults, sects,and Christianity-shattering secrets involved, this may have beenconfusing to those not acquainted with the book, but Howard andscreenwriter Akiva Goldsman ingeniously weave the myriad layers into atrue thrill ride. Ultimately, THE DA VINCI CODE is a thoughtful actionfilm, with a refreshingly clear-eyed approach to world history that mayscandalize the close-minded, but is sure to enlighten those open to newideas.