The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
Directed by Garth Jennings
Written by Douglas Adams, Karey Kirkpatrick
Starring Martin Freeman, Mos Def, Zooey Deschanel, Sam Rockwell, Alan Rickman
Release Date April 29th, 2005
Published April 28th, 2005
The tortured development process for the film adaptation of Douglas Adams' cult novel The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy is one of those "Only in Hollywood" tales. As told in David Hughes' book "The Best Sci-Fi films Never Made," the story begins in 1982 with a series of Hollywood Producers following the money rather than any quirky well told sci-fi story. After Douglas Adams' radio series became a smash in Britain and then became a best selling book, Hollywood took notice.
Once the film was transferred to British TV and once again became a hit, Hollywood heavyweights came calling. First, Ivan Reitman wanted to make the film with Bill Murray and Harold Ramis in the cast. He abandoned the project after a year of stops and starts and budget battles, instead he took Murray and Ramis and made Ghostbusters. After that a number of big names (i.e. Bruce Willis, Michael Keaton, Jim Carrey) all floated into and out of the development process.
Poor Douglas Adams waded through bad adaptation after bad adaptation, some with his name unfortunately attached to them. Until 2001 when it looked as if the sun were finally shining on the project. Adams completed what looked like a final script and director Jay Roach, fresh from the hit Meet The Parents and with Austin Powers in his recent past, was ready to helm the project. Fate can be very cruel; Douglas Adams died of a heart attack before the film could even begin scouting locations.
Five years later with the assistance of first time director Garth Jennings and execs at Disney, The Hitchhiker's GuideTo The Galaxy finally made it to the big screen and though it is flawed and not entirely satisfying to its loyal cult audience, it is a solidly entertaining and a surprisingly welcoming sci-fi comedy.
Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) is having a bad day. His home on the outskirts of some tiny unnamed British hamlet is about to be bulldozed in favor of a new expressway. That, however, is the least of his problems, as his good friend Ford Prefect (Mos Def) is trying to tell him. It seems Arthur's house is not the only thing on Earth about to be bulldozed. The entire planet has been scheduled for demolition by an officious race of aliens called Vogons.
Luckily for Arthur, his buddy Ford is an interstellar hitchhiker who is able to spirit Arthur off the planet before it's destroyed. Thus begins a most extraordinary adventure that will cross the galaxy with a cast of characters not seen outside of an acid trip. After escaping the Vogons, Arthur and Ford stow away aboard the most beautiful ship in the galaxy, the heart of gold, which is currently captained by the new President of the Galaxy, Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell).
Along with Zaphod is Marvin a super intelligent but constantly depressed robot (voice by Alan Rickman, character by Warwick Davis) and Trillian (Zooey Deschanel), an earth girl who has brief history with Arthur; she blew him off at a party to go into space with Zaphod just prior to the world exploding. The crew is on the run, one of Zaphod's two heads, yes I said two heads, has kidnapped the other and stolen the spaceship. They are headed across the galaxy to ask a giant computer the meaning of life.
If that is not esoteric enough for you the film is filled to the brim with other subtle bits of humor and wordplay, the best of which comes from the voice of Stephen Fry narrating from the Hitchhiker's Guide. Accompanied by colorful illustrations, the Guide often interrupts the film to deliver an interesting and helpful tidbit about this or that. Fry's eloquent British tones lend an intellectual air to the film's unusual details and the books' quirky dialogue.
By far my favorite part of the film was the opening song called, "So long and thanks for all the fish ''. Sung from the perspective of dolphins, the song tells us that dolphins had for years tried to warn humans about the impending end of the world but we mistook the warnings as cute tricks. Clever and imaginative, the song is the perfect example of the film's oddball humor.
Director Garth Jennings is one half of a commercial and video directing team called Hammer and Tongs who have directed music videos for REM and Blur. Jennings is inexperienced as a feature film director but it's likely that aided his work here rather than harmed it. Jennings directs with wild abandon, never pausing to consider what can't be done. While the story has been compromised for the sake of mainstream appeal, Jennings' direction is perfectly in sync with the books' bizarre humor.
Martin Freeman is best known for his supporting role in the original British version of Ricky Gervais' "The Office". Freeman has the perfect everyman quality that fits with Douglas Adams' conception of Arthur and, better yet, Freeman whines and complains and begs for a good cup of tea just as you would imagine Arthur from the book would. Unfortunately Freeman fails miserably in connecting with American actress Zooey Deschanel in the film's romantic subplot.
The best performance in the film is Sam Rockwell as Zaphod. Rockwell combines the manic energy of Jim Carrey with the rock star look and manner of David Lee Roth. The two heads bit is funnier than it sounds and provides a number of good gags. Mos Def is a calming influence in the sometimes manic, over the top film. His Ford Prefect is often beatific and obtuse but always supportive and helpful to Arthur. Mos Def may not be what fans of the book had in mind when they thought of Ford but he puts any misgivings away with his performance.
Naturally, with such a well known cult object as "Hitchhiker's Guide" the battle between what appeals to the cult and what can appeal to mainstream audiences is a difficult balancing act. Hollywood studios would prefer every film had the same set of easily salable elements so obviously something as quirky as Hitchhiker's Guide is not their cup of tea. The books are esoteric and dry and very British. To Americanize them and make them more mainstream some things are lost in translation and others are added, like a romance between Arthur and Trillian that is the film's weakest element.
Nothing about the romance ever feels right, likely because it was not part of the book. The whole thing feels shoehorned into the plot and because it's all so earnest it does not fit well with the oddball elements of the surrounding film. Zooey Deschanel could really do something with this part but unfortunately with the romantic element forced on her she becomes a functionary of the plot as opposed to a fully fleshed out character.
Jennings does not linger on the romance plot, though. He is more concerned with cramming the film with exciting visuals and he succeeds more often than not. Watch out for John Malkovich as a half man, half machine in one of the picture's most striking visuals and a terrific scene in which the entire cast is turned into string. These scenes vividly bring to life some of the off-the-wall elements that made "Hitchhiker's Guide" such a cult object.
Overall Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy is an imperfect but highly enjoyable sci-fi comedy. It is not exactly what fans of the book would want, but it's not a bad thing that the filmmakers opened up just enough for new fans to get it. The balance is difficult but works for the most part, enough at least for me to recommend it for your movie dollar.
