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May 06, 2005
Hitchiker’s Guide To Disappontment
Brody and I just saw The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, and I wasn’t all that impressed. There are two things I like about the Douglas Adams books:
- the unmistakably British dry, absurdist humor
- the humanist philosophy
Sure, the books are science fiction. But I always viewed that as merely a point of departure; part of the wit of the books is the juxtaposition between the vast majesty of the universe with the piddling details with which its inhabits concern themselves. And besides, with science fiction, you can construct a universe that obeys whatever laws you want, no matter how ridiculous—but again, it’s meant to serve the comedic possibilities.
But dry absurdist wit, unfortunately, doesn’t really translate well to the screen. Plays on words, humorous exposition, and subtle jokes don’t work in a movie, or at least they didn’t really work here. I found myself saying “well, that’s a really funny joke when you read it…”
Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent is perfectly cast, and so is Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beablebrox. But I didn’t think anyone else really did justice to the book’s characters. Mos Def was most definitely miscast as Ford Prefect. Rather than the suave, smooth, take-it-as-it-comes adventurer, he seemed almost as perplexed by events and places as Arthur.
It’s still fun, though, and it’s still goofy, so it succeeds on those points. For those people who enjoyed that part of the book the most, it’ll be great. But it didn’t really do it for me.
Posted by alex at May 6, 2005 06:59 PM