HANKS AND TAUTOU
HANKS AND TAUTOU

The Da Vinci Code

1

Why we can't wait to see ''The Da Vinci Code''

RELEASE DATE May 19

WHY WE CAN'T WAIT Two of Hollywood's most beloved pros (Tom Hanks and director Ron Howard) adapting a hugely popular page-turner sounds like a can't-miss combo.

THE PREMISE A globe-trotting scholar (Hanks) and a mysterious French gal (Amelie's Audrey Tautou) team up to solve a deadly mystery that leads them to a millennia-old cover-up that could shake the foundations of Christianity.

SOURCE Dan Brown's mega-selling novel

THE BACKSTORY Forget the controversies over the film's alleged anti-Catholic content (which Hanks and Howard deny) or its alleged softening of Brown's tale to placate Catholics (which they also deny). The real scandal may be Hanks' long, greasy, haircut. Hanks attributes it to stylist Manny Miller, a frequent Howard collaborator who ''tells stories through hair.'' At least we know Hanks' hair doesn't grow that way naturally. ''We talked about a wig, but that ends up taking a huge amount of time,'' he says. ''So I went to these guys who know about hair chemistry and found a way.''

BURNING QUESTION Will all those groups who have their knives sharpened for this movie — the Church, Dan Brown fans, barbers — cut into the film's preordained blockbuster status?

COME FOR The reliable actor-director team who brought you Splash and Apollo 13

STAY FOR Supporting players Ian McKellen and Paul Bettany, who can be relied upon to make Brown's verbose thriller sound like Shakespearean drama

Originally posted Apr 20, 2006
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