Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Inconceivable!



So, I'm waiting for "The Da Vinci Code" to start already. Some guy next to me has spilled soda on himself, so I offered a Kleenex and we've been talking on and off for a few minutes. One of the young women next to him notes that "The Da Vinci Code" was some really great writing.

"Are you joking?" I ask.

"No, it really was good."

"Look, just because something sells a million copies doesn't make it good writing. John Grisham, take him, he can't write."

"Of course he can."

"He can write a good plot, but he has no characterization and doesn't know how to end a story."

"Oh. Maybe I should go back and read it again."

Advisable.

The New York Times review also takes note of Dan Brown's writing skills:
To their credit the director and his screenwriter, Akiva Goldsman (who collaborated with Mr. Howard on "Cinderella Man" and "A Beautiful Mind"), have streamlined Mr. Brown's story and refrained from trying to capture his, um, prose style. "Almost inconceivably, the gun into which she was now staring was clutched in the pale hand of an enormous albino with long white hair." Such language — note the exquisite "almost" and the fastidious tucking of the "which" after the preposition — can live only on the page.


Speaking of "inconceivable" --

In the movie, there are a lot of killings. And a lot of Europeans, some French, some Italian. Late in the game, someone is poisoned with a swig of alcohol (naturally after saying an unintentionally ironic phrase along the lines of "I will take the secret of your identity to my grave," which shows us that he's got about 10 seconds to live). I digress. Anyway, it felt familiar. Then I realized: The film is actually paying tribute to "The Princess Bride," as when Vizzini and the Dread Pirate share poisoned drinks and Vizzini says:


"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha --" (thunk)

So very clever, Ron Howard. So very clever indeed.

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