"DaVinci Code" not so hot among Cannes critics

Drudge is reporting today that the film adaptation of The DaVinci Code proved to be somewhat of a snoozer for critics at the Cannes film festival.  (By the way, this is the same crowd that heaped praise on Fahrenheit 911 two years ago.)

Here's how the AP put it:

CANNES, France - "The Da Vinci Code" drew lukewarm praise, shrugs of indifference, some jeering laughter and a few derisive jabs Tuesday from arguably the world's toughest movie crowd: critics at the Cannes Film Festival.

The year's most anticipated movie, "The Da Vinci Code" was a generally faithful adaptation of Dan Brown's monster best seller, spinning a murder thriller that stems from a cover-up of secrets about Christianity's roots.

While readers worldwide devoured the novel, reaction from Cannes critics ranged from mild endorsement of its potboiler suspense to groans of ridicule over its heavy melodrama.

... The Cannes audience clearly grew restless as the movie dragged on to two and a half hours and spun a long sequence of anticlimactic revelations.

... One especially melodramatic line uttered by Hanks drew prolonged laughter and some catcalls, and the audience continued to titter for much of the film's remainder.

Some people walked out during the movie's closing minutes, though there were fewer departures than many Cannes movies provoke among harsh critics. When the credits rolled, there were a few whistles and hisses, and there was none of the scattered applause even bad movies sometimes receive at Cannes.

Of course the reception of the film by the snobbish, effite, metrosexual Cannes crowd is no reflection of how the film will perform domestically in the US.  But this is the film's first wide exposure to entertainment critics, and based on these comments I don't expect that reviews of the film will be very kind.