THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY (2005)
WHAT IT'S ABOUT: Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) finds himself whisked from Earth just as it's destroyed and travels the galaxy with Ford Prefect (Mos Def), the bizarro Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell), and a girl he crushed on at a party once (Zooey Dechanel).
WHY IT DOESN'T WORK: Hard to put a finger on it, really. The cast is great, the effects are top-notch (the Guide segments are especially spiffy) — but it's missing some of the somber giddiness of Douglas Adams' prose. Too bad.
