"Have you come to make a martyr out of me?"

I just finished watching Ron Howard's "Angels & Demons." My mum instantly categorised it as a 3.5 on 5 and one would be forgiven for thinking that that assessment isn't far wrong.

Top of the line schmozz sequences, in my opinion. I do, however, feel that there was too much rushing and too much critical detail left unaddressed altogether. The former is perhaps forgivable since the attempt of turning a six hundred-plus page book into two and a bit hours necessitates some collateral damage. However, it was more than a little disappointing to see (or not see, as it turned out) the depiction of THE storyline of the book interpreted in the movie.

However, that 3.5 would've been a 2 or lower in my estimation but for a phenomenal performance by Ewan McGregor. Despite the ridiculous "Patrick McKenna" gimmick (another unforgivable deviation), he carried the movie at more than a few critical places.

I actually haven't seen a single film of his since "Moulin Rouge" and I'm now certain that I've missed out on quite a lot.

If only they'd rewinded that videotape back fourteen days instead of fourteen hours.