The long-awaited film adaptation of Douglas Adams' cult-beloved sci-fi absurdity finally hits the big screen, with mostly entertaining results – so long as the viewer doesn't expect the full impact of the late author's dry, engaging and definitively British prose. We do get plenty of it, in voiceover form, and both Stephen Fry's narration and the oddly Art Deco visual rendering of the Guide itself are highlights, but the movie's refusal to commit to any certain feel hampers that immediate connection so easily inspired by the original work.
Martin Freeman (from BBC's The Office) plays Arthur Dent, the hapless English everyman yanked off of Earth by a friend who's more than he seems (Mos Def) seconds before the planet is destroyed to make room for an interstellar highway. Dent and friend shortly end up on a runaway starship piloted by the idiotic President of the Galaxy (the always watchable Sam Rockwell) and Dent's Girl Who Got Away (Zooey Deschanel); along with Marvin the Paranoid Android, the motley crew endures sidetracks and setbacks on its quest for The Answer to Everything.
Director Garth Jennings plays it fast and lavish, mixing Gilliam-esque live-action puppetry and cutting-edge CGI. Freeman and Deschanel both bring warmth to somewhat underdeveloped roles, and Rockwell plays the over-the-top Zaphod Beeblebrox with deceptive ease (and a drawl that occasionally parodies that of America's current Commander in Chief). It's Mos Def, however, who steals every scene in which the characters actually matter – his perfectly human Ford Prefect never under- or overdoes it. Overall, Hitchhiker's Guide is an entertaining ride, but one that's kneecapped a bit by its attempt to cover every base between edgy satire and family fun. Also stars John Malkovich and the voice of Alan Rickman.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (PG) Opens April 29th. 
1/2
-Scott Harrell
This article appears in Apr 27 – May 3, 2005.