I had been prepared for it to be a disapointment, because it was getting a lot of negative reviews. I was still a bit disapointed, even with my expectations revised down somewhat.
I don't think any of the performances really worked for me, with the exception of Mos Def and Alan Rickman. Oh, and Slarti Bartfast. I like Bill Niehy (sp?). I was particularly disapointed with Freeman as Arthur Dent actually. I thought he would be a really good casting choice, but there was a lot more gurning and a lot less Denty charm than I was hoping for. Perhaps the director was to blame for this?
I thought that Marvin was inappropriately cute, even if the costume was cool. Couldn't they have made the same suit but with standard adult human size and proportions? That one picky gripe aside, I thought the rest of the production design was excellent. But great production design does not a fun night out make, unfortunately.
I second Andya's "eh?" over the whole John Malcovitch bit. It really wasn't funny enough to just be there, and it had no other purpose that I could think of.
The guide bits were a lot of fun, and they really worked well.
I guess there was always the danger that a film adaptation was going to be bitty and feel inconsequential, especially when compressed into a couple of hours. But I really did feel bitty and inconsequential.
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