This is a British comedy based on the hugely successful book series. The movie does divert greatly at times from the book *. There is no time travel, or plutonium rock bands. The changes are all ok though, because Douglas Adams himself was half the writing team.
Basically; one day a man is awakened to find out that the city is going to destroy his house to put in a free way ramp. He is interrupted from this to find that a friend of his, whose life he saved, is an alien who will now return the favor by getting him off the planet. Earth is about to be destroyed because an alien race of bureaucrats are putting in an intergalactic free way. So the heroes hitchhike through space and end up on an adventure to find the answer to the question of life and what it’s all about.
How Was It?
I didn’t often laugh out loud, but it was very funny, usually subtle and understated, sometimes just grossly weird. It will feel a bit Monty Python to most.
The main idea seemed to be that Sci Fi is just silly and random. Characters and plot therefore are just silly and random, then, very deftly, the movie makes sense of itself. The layers of meaning are thin. The alien world is just stupid and mixed up like our world, but they have technology to make the ridicules even more blatant. There is often voice over and chunks of the guide book "Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy" are read to us. This can be some of the funniest parts.
Is It Good For Kids?
There are some huge aliens who are just big juicy bags of ugly and there is a possibility that two of the characters had sex together. You can check www.ScreenIt.com for a complete break down of elements shown on the screen. I think more to the point for kids this time round is:
1 - Parts may be to slow or two odd for kids to get the joke.
2 - The spiritual messages of the film are more the concern.
How about Spiritual Issues?
From the beginning humans are refereed to as "Ape Decedents." The main character meets the "Girl for Him" at a costume party where he realizes that she is dressed as Charles Darwin. The movie often gives excerpts of "The Guide" which just assumes evolution very blatantly. (Spoiler) In fact at the end, we find out that earth was constructed by other aliens and used simply as a super computer to calculate the meaning of life.
The search for the meaning of life (and the number 42) reveals life to be futile for everyone except those too stupid to realize it’s futile (due to slavish addiction to bureaucracy, pursuits of power and fame, religion, or just your run of the mill stupid). Most graphically illustrated in a whale that is brought into existence over a planet. As if falls it tries to make sense of who it is and what it’s there for.. Then it, as expected, hits the ground and dies. [spoiler] The final realization of the main character comes as mice are about to extract his brain to determine the meaning of life. He realizes the only thing that matters is that he meet the girl of his dreams and have her be part of his life.
The film seems to think that there could be a God, but it knows there is religion. It also knows that religion is silly. Frankly, if you "can’t know anything" then religion is just silly guess work. The religion we step into believes the universe was sneezed out, and one day will be destroyed by the coming of the great white handkerchief. We see a religious ceremony, most similar to Catholic/Episcopal tradition, based on this philosophy. So we find that religion is nice, but no help.
Though it is true that we should invest in other people, this is not the end all be all of life. This is a philosophy called existentialism. Existentialism can crudely be summed up as "We don’t and can’t know anything, so lets just invest in our relationships and experiences." It’s the pre-curser to Post Modernism which goes a step further with "We can’t know anything, so only our experiences count."
Both philosophies fly in direct opposition of the "Revealed" Word of God. The Bible teaches us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, (psalm 139:14). It tells us that there are good works prepared for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10) And he made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, (Ephesians 1:9)
These other philosophies are just lazy frustrations taking only the little they knew, being their experiences and the longing for relationships, and deciding that they can’t know any more. Douglas Adams died May 11, 2001, (49) while working on the script for this movie. He had a wife and daughter, who I’m sure he invested in. Still he does not have them now... What does he have? I pity the man, and all those who will find residence in his well crafted story with no hope at the end.
What Is Your Recommendation?
It’s funny and well done, but the philosophy is wrong. If you do choose to see this film with your family, you will want to talk about God giving life meaning, and the important but correct view of relationships, especially romantically.
To understand this philosophy more before you see the film, check out Josh McDowell’s book "Beyond Belief to Conviction" you can download a booklet version at http://www.beyondbelief.com/overview.spl
Finally, live your life knowing it has purpose, and reach out to others who see nothing beyond there own questions.
* ok, I only saw the 8 hour min-series from the BBC, thought I have heard that it’s very close to the book
