The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Having read the book of the same name by Douglas Adams, I was curious about the film of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. My flatmate has said that the film doesn't match up to the book at all and I would agree with this. My last post was about The Da Vinci Code and I talk about how difficult it is to adapt a book into a film that genuinely matches up. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is another example of this.

It’s definitely not a bad film though. The book is very funny and keeps you captivated page by page. I think the focus with the film was to produce a visualisation of everything for the audience. In this respect the film does very well. I particularly liked Alan Rickman as Marvin the depressed robot. Alan Rickman has a voice that particularly lends itself towards the slightly depressed character. His manner in playing the character is absolutely spectacular and is completely how I imagined the character when reading the book.

Also, for me, Martin Freeman is perfectly cast in the role of Arthur Dent. It might just have been the fact that I knew it was Freeman who plays Dent when reading the book, but I could imagine him being completely comfortable as Arthur. His unique manner of acting lends him very favourably to this character. Martin Freeman has a way of delivering comedic lines which many people find entertaining and it is displayed very clearly in this film.

The other cast is very good too. I enjoyed Zooey Deschanel as Trillian. It’s is quite hard to tell the difference between an actor’s unique manner and them playing the same character in a lot of films. I thought there was nothing about Zooey Deschanel’s character that marked the performance out from anything else she’s done. I did like Mos Def as Ford, and there was a brilliant eccentricity about him in this film that perfectly captured the essence of Ford. I’m not sure what I made of Sam Rockwell as Zaphod though. It might just be because he played the character differently to how I imagined him, but I wasn’t convinced. He managed the zany character very well, but there was nothing that screamed ‘President of the Galaxy’ to me.

For me, it is the small parts that very successful actors and actresses have in this film that marks out how successful the book was. With Bill Nighy, Warwick Davis, Helen Mirren, Stephen Fry and John Malkovich all playing a role in the film it was obviously a big enough project to attract the big names. However, it was lacking something for me. While graphics are impressive for 2005 I felt a bit disappointed that the film added an extra scene at the end which wasn’t included in the book. I never like it when a film does this because the intention of the film is to adapt the book and by adding an extra scene at the end interprets the book in a way that the author may not have intended. It can also completely change the impact of the film. It is a shame that The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy does this, but ultimately I can get over it.

It’s never easy to adapt a book into a film, and especially with a science-fiction book there will always be people who don’t like it for one reason or another. Personally, although there’s no real problems with the acting or anything like that, I just don’t like that an extra scene was added. It doesn’t live up to the book at all and so I would read the book before you think about seeing the film. In all honesty, having read the book, I would avoid the film. 

(500) Days of Summer

This was a film recommended to me by my flatmate who seemed to quite enjoy it. I can see why it’s a popular film. It follows this guy Tom who has ‘broken up’ with a girl, Summer, and is pretty cut up about it. It is presented in a non-linear manner, and this is good because it changes your opinions of the characters as the film goes along.

To begin with, the audience is duped into thinking that this is going to be a love story. We see Summer sitting on a bench with Tom with a ring on her finger. I was expected a soppy little love story along the exact same template as every other romantic comedy I have ever seen. Ever. I was quite surprising though. We are presented with almost two different stories. Tom immediately falls in love with Summer and believes she is the one, but she is against ‘labelling’ their relationship. They eventually break up and Tom struggles with this. In contrast, Summer appears to be coping just fine. At the end of the film we see that she is engaged to someone else and, despite not agreeing with marriage, immediately knew that he was the one.

It would be logical to start with the main character, but I think Zooey Deschanel is more interesting as Summer. The character is complex and interesting, but Zooey Deschanel is quite average throughout. Throughout the film I found myself changing my opinions a lot. At the start, possibly reflecting the rose-tinted goggles that Tom is obviously wearing, I found myself liking Summer, and the film seemed to be presenting a very happy relationship. However, as Tom starts to get over her we see a bit more of the reality of the relationship. At this point, Summer becomes incredibly dislikable. I find some of the things that she does to be incredibly low and cheap. She doesn't seem to have any appreciation of what she has and just wants to be ‘friends’. Zooey Deschanel plays Summer very well. I seem to have missed everything that she’s been in except for New Girl. Though they may seem similar, the characters she plays in these two productions are very different. I think she will become quite a rom-com star in the future. For now though I thought she was good at portraying the obvious ‘quirks’ to Summer’s character, but the role didn't seem to show the qualities of her acting talent.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt just reinforces his status as one of my favourite actors around at the moment. From the scene after he spends the night with Summer to his accuracy at portraying the torment a man goes through after a break up, he is spectacular in 500 Days of Summer. The thing about his character is that nearly every guy (whether they’d care to admit it or not) can relate to something that happens to him. At the start of the film I got the feeling that he was taking the break up a little bit too badly, but when we see more about what happened it becomes apparent that he was justifiably upset about the manner and the nature of their relationship. I really liked the scene where ‘expectations’ and ‘reality’ were aligned and the audience could see what he thought would happen. I also really liked that after his experience with Summer he decides to ‘take the bull by the horns’ and pursue his dream. In doing so he discovers something which has the potential to be better than Summer.

500 Days of Summer is a refreshing break from the template of the typical romantic comedy. It took me some time to realise that they weren't going to get back together and everything would be okay again. However, I like the fact that they didn't  and it is refreshing to see this in a modern film. For this reason I think that 500 Days of Summer can appeal to both males and females. It isn't an incredible movie though, and to be honest I don’t think I’d recommend it too highly. It is funny in parts, but overall I think it seemed to pass me by a little bit. It’s definitely one to watch in a relaxed setting, maybe with a partner. I enjoyed it, but I think it’s time to move on from Summer and await the arrival of Autumn.