Sir Ian

Speaking of The Da Vinci Code, it has Sir Ian McKellen in it, which is always a good thing. God bless those classically trained Brits who give us the gift of dignifying silly movies. With the possible exception of the amazingly amazing Ian Holm, McKellen is the best of 'em. Elsewhere in the review from Ebert, we learn that Sir Ian (of course!) once again delivers the goods.

Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou and Jean Reno do a good job of not overplaying their roles, and Sir Ian McKellen overplays his in just the right way

Not only is McKellen a super duper actor, but he's as wry and witty as you prefer to imagine actors must be. Punk Ass Blog sings his praises, inspired by a comment of his on television.

“There have been calls from some religious groups, they wanted a disclaimer at the beginning of this movie saying it is fiction because one of the themes in the book really knocks Christianity right on its ear, if Christ survived the crucifixion, he did not die for our sins and therefore was not resurrected. What I’m saying is, people wanted this to say ‘fiction, fiction, fiction’. How would you all have felt if there was a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie? Would it have been okay with you?”

There was a pause, and then famed British actor Ian McKellen [Gandalf of Lord of the Rings], piped up:

“Well, I’ve often thought the Bible should have a disclaimer in the front saying this is fiction. I mean, walking on water, it takes an act of faith. And I have faith in this movie. Not that it’s true, not that it’s factual, but that it’s a jolly good story. And I think audiences are clever enough and bright enough to separate out fact and fiction, and discuss the thing after they’ve seen it.”

Well, there you go.