Critics have panned controversial blockbuster The Da Vinci Code

Critics have panned controversial blockbuster, 'The Da Vinci Code'. The film - based on best selling novel by Dan Brown - was screened for journalists for the first time at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday (16.05.06). One viewer, Peter Brunette - the critic for American newspaper The Boston Globe - said: "I didn't like it very much. I thought it was almost as bad as the book. Tom Hanks was a zombie, thank goodness for Ian McKellen. "It was overplayed, there was too much music and it was much too grandiose." During a crucial moment in the film, the 2,000-strong audience reportedly burst out laughing. Another critic said: "At the high point, there was laughter among the journalists. Not loud laughs, but a snicker and I think that says it all. "At the end, there was no applause, just silence." Among the other complaints levelled at the two and a half hour film were that it was "confusing" for people who hadn't read the book - which has already sold some 50 million copies worldwide and been translated into 44 languages - and that the dialogue was "cheesy". The film - which had its premiere in Cannes last night (17.05.06) - opens around the world on Friday.

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The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown,