The Critics Speak

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Critic: Steph Lewis
On a scale of 0 to Awesome, I rate this: Tolerable
Released: April 29, 2005
Director: Garth Jennings
MPAA RATING: PG, for thematic elements, action and mild language

Synopsis: Don't Panic . . . Stick out your thumb to join the most ordinary man in the world on an extraordinary adventure across the universe in the hilarious comedy, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." Earthman Arthur Dent is having a very bad day. His house is about to be bulldozed, he discovers that his best friend is an alien and to top things off, Planet Earth is about to be demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass. Arthur's only chance for survival: hitch a ride on a passing spacecraft. For the novice space traveler, the greatest adventure in the universe begins when the world ends. Arthur sets out on a journey in which he finds that nothing is as it seems: he learns that a towel is just the most useful thing in the universe, finds the meaning of life, and discovers that everything he needs to know can be found in one book: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. -- © Touchstone Pictures

My Take: Meh. It was well done, there was decent acting, really cool effects, moments of humor. I'm sure some people really enjoyed it. Difficulty for me is that I don't really connect to that kind of humor. I found myself fading in and out of the movie, sometimes laughing and enjoying it, and sometimes having a total ADD problem and thinking about how cold the theater was or wishing I'd worn socks. It's just not my kind of comedy.

My favorite parts do include the improbability button on the ship - it's a button that does something highly improbable when pushed. That's a cool little thing. You could just kind of live your life pushing that a bunch of times and seeing where you'd end up. Heh heh. My favorite was the sperm whale and the petunias flying out of the sky and thinking as they plummet.

I also liked the bureaucratic alien dudes...they were so gross looking and their noses were cool. I wouldn't be surprised if Jim Henson's creature shop had their hand in that (but I'm too lazy to research it). The character Slartibartfast was the most interesting. He was part of the company that built the earth and other planets and stuff. He had interesting things to say that I connected with, including his thought that there's so much to know and understand that sometimes it's easier to just keep yourself busy and be happy.

The movie did raise some interesting questions. Things like: How can space be that big and us so small? What could be out there that we don't know about? What will we do at the end of the earth? Lie on the floor with paper bags on our heads? These are questions one will ponder upon exiting this flick.

For me though, I just didn't really connect with the characters or the humor. Sorry.