THE HITCHHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY

Director: Garth Jennings (no major film work)
Starring: Martin Freeman, Zooey Deschanel, Mos Def, Sam Rockwell

Hmmm. Let's talk about artistic mediums why don't we? I think that it should be obvious that certain stories work better in one medium than in another. Stories written for a sitcom probably won't work for a Broadway musical. Similarly, a story written as a radio series may have some problems morphing into a major motion picture. And yes, now I'm talking about this particular major motion picture. This story seemed to strain as it tried to fit on the big screen. As far as I can tell, The Hitchhiker's Guide is beloved by its many fans due to its playful and irreverent wit and not because of its strong story arc, riveting action, or well-wrought characters. At least, I've come to this conclusion after seeing the film. We get gobs of Monty Python silliness, as silly characters zig and zag their way across a silly universe. That seems custom-made for serialized humor - each week a new adventure. It turns out to be a bit lacking for this particular 100 minutes of film, however. Now don't get me wrong, I like Monty Python silliness - and much of it works in this film. It's entirely 'conceptual' humor, rather than laugh-out-loud but-gusting silliness, but it's still good stuff. (That is, there are jokes about Earth secretly being ruled by hyper-intelligent mice. Ironic? Yes. But I'm not going to spit out popcorn when I see that one on screen.) In the end, we have a story of some great creativity struggling to find a strong plot and strong characters. Perhaps the most egregious failure is in the central love story. After the earth gets blown up (to make way for an interstellar highway) the 2 remaining humans must fall in love. That's just what we get, two actors really forcing themselves to look like they're in love. So, this film: funny, creative and clever, but also a bit forced and awkward. Good, but not too good.

Standouts: A fun, quirky and creative story.
Blowouts: The script and characters weren’t well suited to the big screen.

Grade: B-