The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

I went and saw The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy on Friday night. I almost wasn’t allowed in the theater by my fellow attendees.

I went with my buddy Peter and his brother. As we were walking into the show, they both looked at me and asked, “Have you got your towel?” I looked at them rather quizzically and said, “What are you talking about?” They came to the sudden and horrific realization that I had never read the books, and had no idea what they were talking about. They said I couldn’t see it (they were joking, I think…), but I convinced them that since I had no previous experience with The Guide, that I would have no preconceived expectations of the film, and therefore could give them an unbiased opinion.

Arthur Dent’s (Martin Freeman) house is targeted for destruction to make way for a new highway bypass. Little does he know that the Earth is targeted for exactly the same thing. His neighbor, Ford Prefect (Mos Def) turns out to be an alien, and he sticks out his thumb and they end up hitchhiking their way across the galaxy where we find out that the answer to the ultimate question (the meaning of life) is 42 and where one hit of the improbability drive can well, result in the improbable (a couple of thermo-nuclear missiles turning into a bowl of petunias and a sperm whale that has a very short experience of self discovery.

A thoroughly entertaining and fun movie. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. This film reminded me of the quirky Mel Brooks films of the ’80 and ‘90’s (Spaceballs, Men in Tights). The Cook brothers agreed that the movie did justice to the books and that Zaphod (Sam Rockwell) was hysterical, much like he was in the pages of The Guide. It looks like the Douglas Adams favorite was done right and a great tribute to The Guide’s creator.

Worth the full price of admission.