The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Daniel SwensenAs a movie, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was, in my mind, doomed at the outset. Douglas Adams’s wry science-fiction classic might be a little dated in an age choking on postmodernism, but it remains both very funny and very unfilmable. Even though director Garth Jennings gives it a good try, the book remains (in my opinion, at least) unfilmable, and this film, unfortunately, goes a long way towards proving it.
HGTG suffers, most of all, from inevitable compromise: to make a palatable film, many components of the book — often, the funniest and most insightful — must be altered or done away with. On the other hand, moments crafted by the director, when held in contrast to the venerated classic of a book, seem like presumption — even if it is Adams’s name on the screenplay credits. So you end up with a film that’s too bowdlerized to appeal to hardcore HGTG fans, and too obtuse to appeal to viewers who have no knowledge of the book — in other words, a lose-lose situation.
Personally, I found this movie to be mostly an addled mess. Mos Def’s acting was terrible, as he mumbled his way through his part without enthusiasm. Sam Rockwell’s comedic talents were wasted on his grating, one-note performance of Zaphod Beeblebrox — though I haven’t read the book in years, I don’t remember him being quite so annoying. Martin Freeman does an amicable job as the fundamentally pathetic protagonist Arthur Dent — something of a thankless role, but he gives a competent performance, if not a breakout one. Zooey Deschanel is pretty and charming as Trillian, but, unfortunately for the twenty-first century, is relegated to little more than a love interest. Ironically, the highlight of the performances was probably John Malkovich’s added and unecessary cameo as Humma Kavula. It’s a sad day when some of the most memorable characters in sci-fi history take a back seat to a new character essentially made up for the film.
This is not to say the movie is totally without merit. There are a few moments that are snicker-worthy, and the costumes, set design, and a few of the special effects moments are worth watching. Alan Rickman is precisely as amusing as you might think in his role as Marvin. The segment with Slartibartfast and the planet factory is breathtaking. The talking mice are funny. The Vogon costumes are great fun to watch — finally, some non-CGI monsters again! The improbability drive segments made me smile. It’s just unfortunate that these individual moments are wrapped around such a dog’s breakfast of a screen adaptation. The DVD also has some nice features, such as the “improbability drive” menu option, which opens up random featurettes and bits from the Guide. It’s not enough to save the film as a whole, but I applaud the ambitious attempt that Jennings made at adapting this film, even if I do think it ultimately failed.
4/10