The Da Vinci Code

A murder in Paris’ Louvre Museum and cryptic clues in some of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous paintings lead to the discovery of a religious mystery. For 2,000 years a secret society closely guards information that — should it come to light — could rock the very foundations of Christianity.

One of the most critically rejected blockbusters of its era, the film was widely dismissed as a sluggish, dramatically inert adaptation that strips the novel's pulpy momentum without replacing it with anything cinematic. Audiences were more forgiving than critics, and a small minority of reviewers — including Roger Ebert — argued the thriller mechanics work well enough; the sharpest disagreement was between those who found it a competent crowd-pleaser and those who considered it a complete waste of a provocative premise.