By Dennis D. McDonald

I can take 5 or ten minutes of tongue-in-cheek, but a whole movie, plus annoying characters?

I am well aware that the series of books this movie is based on are universally adulated and loved, but the whole affair left me only mildly amused.

Maybe it’s because I never enjoyed The Goon Show, which I see as the spiritual godfather of this type of humor. It all seemed so pointless then, notwithstanding Peter Sellers’ involvement. Maybe he would have helped this movie.

Plus, the jabs at religion are sophomoric and tiring. I felt like saying, Get over it. People who wear their atheism on their sleeve are just as tiresome as people who wear their religion on their sleeve. What’s important are deeds, not words.

Things I liked:

• The special effects
• The costumes
• The tour of the planet factory
• The dolphins
• The animation of the Guide
• The pub at the beginning of the movie
• The Vogons

So all is not lost. But if you are not already a fan of the books you may not get the joke.

Copyright (c) 2005 by Dennis D. McDonald