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"THE DA VINCI CODE" (2006) (Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Heavy Heavy Extreme Moderate Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Mild Mild Extreme None Mild Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy Minor Moderate Heavy Extreme QUICK TAKE: Drama/Suspense: An American professor of religious symbology reluctantly teams up with a French police cryptologist as they try to solve a murder that may lead to the greatest religious cover-up of all time. PLOT: Robert Langdon (TOM HANKS) is a Harvard based professor of religious symbology who's in France delivering a speech based on his work when he's approached by police Lt. Collet (ETIENNE CHICOT) and special agent Captain Bezu Fache (JEAN RENO). It seems that a Louvre curator he was supposed to have met for drinks has been found dead and the officials have some questions for Robert. Just then, the victim's granddaughter, French police cryptologist Sophie Neveu (AUDREY TAUTOU), shows up and informs Robert that he's in grave danger, specifically from Bezu. It seems that Bishop Aringarosa (ALFRED MOLINA) called the agent, informing him that Robert was the murderer, when the real culprit was an albino monk by the name of Silas (PAUL BETTANY) who's been killing off guardians of a secret society under orders from a nebulous party known as "the teacher." Managing to elude Bezu and his men, Robert and Sophie find several clues left for them near the victim's body that lead to even more scattered about the museum. That eventually leads them to Robert's former associate, Holy Grail historian Sir Leigh Teabing (IAN McKELLEN) who believes their findings reinforce his belief that Christ was not a deity, but rather a mere mortal who fathered a child with Mary Magdalene. He goes on to say that a secret society has existed for several millennia whose sole purpose is protecting their descendents, all as the Church has covered up that fact through lies and murder. Robert and Sophie are skeptical of such wild-sounding allegations that include Leigh's unusual belief that the Holy Grail is not the chalice from the Last Supper, but rather Mary Magdalene. Even so, they realize various forces are intent on finding the Grail and thus set out to get to the bottom of this mystery, all while trying to avoid Bezu, Silas and others who are after them and the knowledge and evidence they're collecting along the way. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they read the book and/or are fans of someone in the cast, they might. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For disturbing images, violence, some nudity, thematic material, brief drug references and sexual content. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: TOM HANKS plays an American professor of religious symbology who unwittingly finds himself in the middle of a vast religious conspiracy regarding Jesus and his possible descendents. Teamed with Sophie, he tries to get to the bottom of a series of clues that seemingly will lead to the truth, all while dealing with his claustrophobia as well as Bezu, Silas and others who want to stop them. AUDREY TAUTOU plays a French police cryptologist who gets wrapped up in the religious mystery when her estranged grandfather is murdered. She helps Robert elude the police and sets out to solve the mystery with him. IAN McKELLEN plays an elderly Holy Grail historian who's excited by their findings, but seems to know more about what's occurring than he initially lets on. JEAN RENO plays a French special agent whose determination to nab Robert goes beyond his official duty and involves his religious order. He briefly uses profanity and beats up a man trying to get information from him. PAUL BETTANY plays a self-abusive albino Monk who suffers for his religion while killing those protecting a long-standing religious secret. ALFRED MOLINA plays a Bishop involved in the conspiracy. ETIENNE CHICOT plays a police lieutenant who becomes suspicious of Bezu's fixation and unorthodox ways of trying to nab Robert. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a brief summary of the content found in this dramatic thriller that's rated PG-13. Profanity consists of at least 4 "s" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are uttered. Some non-explicit, sexually related dialogue is present, as is a brief and partially seen sexual encounter (in a pagan ritual where a woman is on top of a man in front of others and her bare back is seen). A man's bare butt is seen in a nonsexual context, classical style paintings and statues show nudity (breasts and butts) and a nude male body is splayed out on a floor, but some lightning washes out any explicit details. Violence consists of people being killed by various means, some with varying degrees of bloodiness, while fighting and some injuries also occur. That, some graphic visuals and various moments of peril might be intense or suspenseful to some viewers, while one character self-flagellates himself (with bloody results). Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, while some viewers may find the film's plot as blasphemous. That includes various thematic issues involving religion and religious history. A miscellaneous character is stopped from shooting up drugs, while drug and alcohol related comments are made and a minor character has a cigar. Finally, tense family material involves familial deaths in the present and in flashbacks. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, varying amounts of camera movement (sometimes a lot) occurs in various scenes throughout the movie. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Robert states that he was supposed to have drinks with a curator. We see dried blood on the floor in two spots in the Louvre (seen via a black light). Sophie and Robert come across a junkie getting ready to shoot up in a park at night (he's heating a spoon with an open flame). Sophie then convinces him not to do so and breaks the needle off the syringe. We see what looks like a bottle of liquor in an ice bucket. There's talk of wine at the Last Supper (but Leigh points out that there's no wine shown in the painting). When confronted by police at an airport, Leigh jokingly asks if that old cannabis charge finally caught up with him. A man drinks from a flask, but it turns out to be poisoned and he collapses to the ground and dies. After proving she can't walk on water (a reference to Jesus), Sophie jokes that maybe she'll do better with the wine. BLOOD/GORE We see blood on a curator's hands after he's been shot. We see bad flagellation wounds on Silas' back (both previous ones and new ones that he's just caused -- we see the new impact as it occurs). We also see him remove a barbed collar from around his leg (that leaves bloody wounds) and then put a new one in its place (that he tightens around the leg). We see a dead curator splayed out on the floor, with a bloody pentagram symbol carved into his chest, and with a pool of blood by him. We see a quick flashback of some thugs attacking a priest (leaving him with a bloody face). We see brief flashbacks to the middle ages showing fighting, including a person impaled with a sword (we don't see the impact, but we see blood run down the end of the sword). We see another view of Silas' bare back with bad looking welts. A man's face is bloody after a door is shoved into his face. We later see blood on his head and some on his shirt. Robert says he's bleeding, but we don't see that. We see a flashback to a newborn being covered in a bit of birth goo. We see that Silas has a few streaks of blood down his head from an earlier fight. Bezu punches a man in the face (bloodying his nose) and then repeatedly kicks him on the floor. Sophie tends to some blood on her knee and lower leg. A man who's been shot is bloody. We see a bloody bullet hole in a dead man's robe. While shaving, Robert nicks his face, causing a little bit of blood that then drips down into the sink and runs down the drain. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Some viewers may see the film as having a blasphemous storyline concerning Christ being a mortal who fathered a child with Mary Magdalene (we see a flashback of her being pregnant), that she was earmarked to lead the Church, and that the Church murdered many (mostly women) to cover up that fact. This is first suggested by a character who turns out to be a villain, but is later embraced by others. Similarly, Leigh talks of Roman Emperor Constantine being the one who deified Christ, and he says that as long as there has been one true God, there has been killing in His name. Those responsible for killing or ordering the killing of others obviously have bad attitudes. Some viewers may not like an albino character being portrayed as a villain. Silas kills various people in the name of religion. We see a quick flashback of what's presumably Silas' father backhanding his mother and Silas then grabbing a large kitchen knife, and stabbing and presumably killing him (he's later in jail). We see a quick flashback of some thugs attacking a priest (leaving him with a bloody face) and Silas then coming across the scene and killing the two assailants (one by breaking his neck). Some may view Sophie as having a bad attitude for saying she doesn't believe in God. Bezu punches a man in the face (bloodying his nose) and then repeatedly kicks him on the floor. We hear that Bishop Aringarosa called Bezu to tell him that Robert was the murderer of the curator. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence," "Blood/Gore" and "Jump Scenes" may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. We see an older curator slowly running through a museum and removing a painting from the wall to activate the security system. A gate drops down and closes an opening, but Silas points his gun through it at the man, warning him to give Silas the information he wants. When the curator won't, Silas shoots him (apparently in the gut). We then see the wounded curator stumbling along, with blood on his hands. Sophie has Robert retrieve a phone message from her that warns him about Bezu and that he's in grave danger from him. Seeing French police waiting for them at the American embassy, Sophie rapidly drives in reverse through heavy traffic to elude them (barely making it between two trucks, with a side-view mirror being torn off in the process). We see a quick flashback of some thugs attacking a priest (leaving him with a bloody face) and Silas then coming across the scene and killing the two assailants (one by breaking his neck). We see a brief flashback to young Robert struggling to stay afloat in a dark well. We later see another flashback showing him falling down into it and then splashing around in a panic in the water. We see a flashback to young Sophie's mother talking to her (at the age of 4) from the front seat of her car. When the mother turns back toward the front, a big truck suddenly smashes into the car (seen in graphic, POV detail). We hear that her parents and brother were killed in the crash. A cop questions the driver of a bank truck and wants to look in the back (where we know Robert and Sophie are hiding). A man holds a gun on Robert and Sophie who are in the back of a bank truck. He then fires a warning shot into the truck and makes the two turn around (and think they're going to be shot). They then hear a loud sound, but it's the man trying to close the truck door. Robert then blasts the door into the man, knocking him down and bloodying his face. That man then repeatedly fires at Robert and Sophie as they race around the truck, get in and quickly drive off. As Robert and Sophie meet with Leigh, we see that Silas and the police are separately headed there. Silas suddenly grabs Robert, has him by the neck and drives him back into a wall where he strikes him, sending Robert to the floor. He then aims his gun first at Sophie and then at Leigh. Leigh then hits Silas several times with his cane, flooring him, enabling Sophie to grab and repeatedly bash Silas' head to the hard floor. Silas calls Leigh (who uses canes to get around) a "cripple." Bezu punches a man in the face (bloodying his nose) and then repeatedly kicks him on the floor. Cops hold guns on Leigh when they stop him at an airport. Silas chases after and catches Sophie, holding a knife to her throat. Leigh's assistant, Remy, holds a gun to Robert's head. A villain holds a gun to Robert and then Sophie's heads to try to make Sophie open a puzzle. After Robert distracts the villain, Sophie grabs his gun and aims it at the villain. Bezu and various cops then storm the scene and aim guns at them, ordering Sophie to drop the one she's holding (she does). We see men arriving at a church where Robert and Sophie are looking for clues, but they turn out to be harmless. GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns/Automatic weapons/Knives/Cane/Spears/Swords: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill others. See "Violence" for details. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Piece of sh*t," "I'm glad this bullsh*t is over," "(You self righteous) bastard," "What can an old cripple do for you?" "What the hell it's for," "What the hell do you mean you lost them?" and "You asshole." We see bad flagellation wounds on Silas' back (both previous ones and new ones that he's just caused -- we see the new impact as it occurs). We also see him remove a barbed collar from around his leg (that leaves bloody wounds) and then put a new one in its place (that he tightens around the leg). JUMP SCENES Silas hits a nun hard enough with a stone artifact that he knocks her from her chair, killing her. A truck suddenly smashes into a car (seen from inside the car). Silas suddenly grabs Robert. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) An extreme amount of dramatic, ominous and suspenseful music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 4 "s" words (2 in English subtitles), 2 hells, 1 ass (used with "hole"), 2 uses each of "For God's sakes" and "My God" and 1 use each of "Christ," "Dear God," "Good God" and "Jesus." SEX/NUDITY Various classical paintings and statues seen in various scenes show various forms of nudity (bare breasts, butts and shirtless men, etc.). We see Silas standing fully nude as he prepares to flagellate himself. We see his bare butt from behind him as well as a side view shot as he crouches down to the floor. We see a dead curator splayed out on the floor, fully nude (but a police light above him illuminates his crotch area to the point that all details there are completely washed out). We briefly see some hookers (in standard garb) soliciting people in stopped cars on the street. There's talk of a pagan symbol for man being a triangle shape that's noted as being phallic. Leigh then jokes that the philosophy was the more penises one had, the more powerful they were. That's followed by talk of the pagan symbol for woman being an inverted triangle from that (representing the womb). This leads back to Christ and the mention that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute, but Leigh says that was a lie and that she was really Christ's wife. Upon hearing Leigh's theory about Christ and Mary Magdalene, Sophie asks (in disbelief) that people found God through sex. Talking about Sophie's inherent ability of deciphering clues, Leigh says that he imagines codes "lie down for you like lovers." We briefly see young Sophie looking through a window at some sort of pagan ritual where a couple is apparently having sex in front of others (the woman is on top of the man, mostly under covers, but we see her bare back as she rises up -- all briefly seen). We briefly see Robert in just a towel as he shaves. SMOKING Collet has a cigar in one scene. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Sophie says that a recently murdered curator was her grandfather, but then adds that she hadn't seen or spoken to him in a long time. We see a quick flashback of what's presumably Silas' father backhanding his mother and Silas then grabbing a large kitchen knife, and stabbing and presumably killing him (he's later in jail). We see a flashback to young Sophie's mother talking to her (at the age of 4) from the front seat of her car. When the mother turns back toward the front, a big truck suddenly smashes into the car (seen in graphic, POV detail). We hear that her parents and brother were killed in the crash. We see a flashback to young Sophie's grandfather yelling at her (as she cries) after she was looking for information about her dead parents. Sophie discovers that the man she thought was her grandfather really wasn't her relative. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT The speculative notion that Christ fathered a child with Mary Magdalene, that she was earmarked to lead the Church, and that the Church murdered many to cover up that fact. Cryptology. The discussion of how symbols are interpreted differently through time and in different contexts (during this, we briefly see a photo of hooded, robed men who look like KKK members). Opus Dei. Leonardo da Vinci and the purported clues in his works. Prime meridian. The Holy Grail and the film's viewpoint of it being something different from the usual interpretation (of a sacred cup). Knights Templar. Claustrophobia. Sophie stating that she's never seen much good from looking into the past. The comment that when history is written, murderers sometimes become heroes. Pagans. The comment that the only thing that matters is what you believe. The comment that maybe being human is divine. The question that why couldn't Jesus be a father and still perform miracles, etc. We briefly see some hookers (in standard garb) soliciting people in stopped cars on the street. Sophie and Robert come across a junkie getting ready to shoot up in a park at night (he's heating a spoon with an open flame). Sophie then convinces him not to do so and breaks the needle off the syringe. Leigh talks of Roman Emperor Constantine being the one who deified Christ. VIOLENCE We see an older curator slowly running through a museum and removing a painting from the wall to activate the security system. A gate drops down and closes an opening, but Silas points his gun through it at the man, warning him to give Silas the information he wants. When the curator won't, Silas shoots him (apparently in the gut). We then see the wounded curator stumbling along, with blood on his hands. We see bad flagellation wounds on Silas' back (both previous ones and new ones that he's just caused -- we see the new impact as it occurs). We also see him remove a barbed collar from around his leg (that leaves bloody wounds) and then put a new one in its place (that he tightens around the leg). While driving backwards eluding the police, Sophie barely makes it between two trucks, with a side-view mirror being torn off in the process. We see a quick flashback of what's presumably Silas' father backhanding his mother and Silas then grabbing a large kitchen knife, and stabbing and presumably killing him (he's later in jail). We see a quick flashback of some thugs attacking a priest (leaving him with a bloody face) and Silas then coming across the scene and killing the two assailants (one by breaking his neck). Silas smashes and breaks a church floor open to get to a hidden artifact. We see a flashback to the Crusades where large fireballs are fired into a city (seen from a distance). We see brief flashbacks to the middle ages showing fighting, a person thrown down a long distance, a person impaled with a sword (we don't see the impact, but we see blood run down the end of the sword), and another person being burned at the stake. Silas hits a nun hard enough with a stone artifact that he knocks her from her chair, killing her. We see a flashback to young Sophie's mother talking to her (at the age of 4) from the front seat of her car. When the mother turns back toward the front, a big truck suddenly smashes into the car (seen in graphic, POV detail). We hear that her parents and brother were killed in the crash. A man holds a gun on Robert and Sophie who are in the back of a bank truck. He then fires a warning shot into the truck and makes the two turn around (and think they're going to be shot). They then hear a loud sound, but it's the man trying to close the truck door. Robert then blasts the door into the man, knocking him down and bloodying his face. That man then repeatedly fires at Robert and Sophie as they race around the truck, get in and quickly drive off. We see quick flashback images of Roman era fighting, with one person being impaled, another having a hot poker pressed to his flesh and another lifted into the air via the spear in him, and a statue being yanked down. We briefly see a flashback to a purported witch being drowned underwater. Silas suddenly grabs Robert, has him by the neck and drives him back into a wall where he strikes him, sending Robert to the floor. He then aims his gun first at Sophie and then at Leigh. Leigh then hits Silas several times with his cane, flooring him, enabling Sophie to grab and repeatedly bash Silas' head to the hard floor. Sophie smacks Silas twice for killing her grandfather. Bezu punches a man in the face (bloodying his nose) and then repeatedly kicks him on the floor. Silas chases after and catches Sophie, holding a knife to her throat. Leigh's assistant, Remy, holds a gun to Robert's head. Remy knocks Leigh to the ground and moments later shoots at Robert and Sophie as they flee. Remy puts Leigh into a car trunk. A man drinks from a flask, but it turns out to be poisoned and he collapses to the ground and dies. Trying to flee from the police who've arrived for him, Silas runs into one on foot and then shoots him and several others before accidentally shooting and wounding Bishop Aringarosa. Police shoot and kill a villain. A villain holds a gun to Robert and then Sophie's heads to try to make Sophie open a puzzle. After Robert distracts the villain, Sophie grabs his gun and aims it at the villain. Bezu and various cops then storm the scene and aim guns at them, ordering Sophie to drop the one she's holding (she does). Reviewed May 17, 2006 / Posted May 19, 2006

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