"With Hanks and Howard involved, the movie has intimations of transforming a beach book about Opus Dei into a Major Opus. The whole project smells of serious art, when what it should smell of is buttered popcorn.
We don't need self-important artistes trying to turn folderol into gravitas. When I heard about Hanks and Howard, my already-heavy heart sank. Weren't the Coen Brothers and Owen Wilson available?
We need more fun. We need to understand that some stuff is merely entertainment and not Terribly Important. Even in this day and age, it isn't necessary to get all Jack Bauer about everything."
Maybe these comments are tongue-in-cheek. Obviously the film has to appear serious in order to be a drama. It was never meant to be a spoof (although see Daniel Henniger's column in the Wall Street Journal for a different opinion). I am going to see the movie this weekend and be entertained. Much of the fun and amusement that I will be experiencing will come from the knowledge that the movie is upsetting so many people who cannot distinguish fiction from nonfiction. That is clearly their shortcoming, not the film's.
