Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was FUNNY! Just got back, 4:10 showing in Dennis, Massachusetts. FANTASTIC FILM!

It did not, however, go with the flow of the book... only in moments, now and again. The ending was typical sweet-Hollywood love story guy-gets-the-girl nice-nice, but it was somewhat well done for a drastic conclusion change.

The things I liked best about the film:

Sam Rockwell's performance as Zaphod. Granted, the character Zaphod was (and is) a book page-stealer, so it was bound to end up a movie scene-stealer. Still, I have never seen such a beautifully seductive, lively, perfect performance of a character from a book ever, ever, ever. To say this character portrayal leapt off the screen and into your lap (to cop a feel of your breasts) would be one 'fantasy for later on in the shower' way of putting it... for females and guys who get into that long, blonde haired rock star cowboy look. Actually, I don't even get into the long blonde hair cowboy-booted look at all, but something about Zaphod... something about the wink, the mischievousness, the smile... I'd let him. You would, too! After all, he has a spaceship.

My husband just reminded me that I also loved Sam Rockwell (didn't know they were the same actor!) in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (the semi-autobiographical adaptation of Gong Show host Chuck Barris.) I don't know which role I find more stunning now... Sam Rockwell as Chuck Barris or Sam Rockwell as Zaphod. Both were just so flawless and true to the characters, one real and one imagined.

I loved the visuals. I love space and the universe and the concepts illustrated in this film were nicely done... extreme escapism. It felt bigger in that theatre. By billions of miles.

I liked the intensely well done portrayal of Ford Prefect by Mos Def. Excellent comedy timing with certain parts (re: the buttons on the wall... what's this? what's this?!) Body movements (a man of the galaxy) and wonderful confidence, just as Ford presents in the book.

The characters of Arthur and Trillian were also well done. The change of story line made it somewhat harder to concentrate on them during the movie (but only because I'd read the book.) In the book, Arthur feels like the main character, but even in the book you end up feeling EVERYONE is a main character. Kudos to Douglas Adams for doing this. The only other time in my life I've read a book that did this to such a supreme extent was in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.

I liked that they mentioned Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings. I didn't think her name would get mentioned, as when I mention her to hard-core HGttG-fans, they often go "who?" I don't know why, exactly, but the one sentence that mentions her as being the worst poetry writer in the world just cracked me up something big when I first read the book. I clapped when they mentioned her name and yelled out 'yeah!' and felt like a dork (hahaha!) I was the only one in the theatre (there were only about a dozen people there to see it for the matinee) who had a towel. And a shirt that I hand-drew DON'T PANIC! upon with black lettering and yellow highlighted insides. I also wrote a bunch of text from the book all over the shirt. My family (all of whom went to see the movie) were enjoying people giving me the oddball glances and smiles.

I liked the dolphin scene with the dark sky and spotlight paper moon. I love how water splashes look on film.

What I didn't like:

I groaned when they didn't have the foreman contractor guy lay down in front of the tractor that was ready to demolish Arthur's house. It's one of the funniest scenes from the book. It would have been so funny to see on film. I've no idea why they selected to take that scene out of the screenplay for film (was it ever in it?)

I was somewhat taken aback by the change of story line. Towards the end, it didn't exactly feel like Douglas Adam's book anymore, just a pretty good love story movie.

There was one scene towards the end that showed a Vogon breathing; it was the only part that made me remember I was watching a movie and that inside that Vogon was either a pump or a person that was moving the skin up and down. Up until that scene, I felt the Vogon performances were brilliant and flawless. I still think they were brilliantly done, with just one, tiny flaw.


Would I recommend this movie?

Yes. In fact, we'll buy it on dvd as soon as it comes out. My son, Winter, asked to go see it again (tomorrow night). He's never read the book and loved the movie. I really liked the movie, will probably watch it a few dozen more times in my lifetime (once we own it on dvd), but having read the book definitely impacts your expectations. I kinda wish I was of the same frame of mind as my son Winter, who took the film in as its own story and just enjoyed the magic of it all. The artistry of the movie is breathtaking and whimsically good fun.

Bottom line; it's a very good film, if you don't expect it to be a replica of the book itself (which was a reasonable expectation, but not even Lord of the Rings fans got that.)