The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

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Year:	2005
Country of origin:	USA / UK
Director:	Garth Jennings
Genre:	Disappointing adaptation
Starring:	Martin Freeman, Mos Def,  Zooey Deschanel, Sam Rockwell
Rating:	2/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371724/
Tagline:	Don't Panic!
Favourite line:	"Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and they ask me to take you to the bridge. Call that job satisfaction, 'cause I don't."

Anglo-American updating of the cult favourite radio series / novel / BBC series / set of comics.
Take your pick.

The plot:
Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) is a normal type of guy.
He lives by himself, likes wearing a dressing gown, and gets upset when people threaten to knock his house down.
His best friend, Ford Prefect (Mos Def) is not a normal type of guy. Hailing from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse, not from Guildford as Arthur believed, Ford beguiles his best friend by informing him that Earth is about to be destroyed. Popping to the pub for a couple of pints to see them on their way, Ford beams them up to a Vogon spacecraft, where they are captured and befall one of the worst fates in the known universe: listening to Vogon poetry.
Making good their escape, they soon team up with the two-headed Zaphod Beeblebrox and his girlfriend Trillian, as well as that master of misery, Marvin the Paranoid Android, and embark on a journey that will see them discover the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything.

This starts off promisingly enough, with a feel very similar to the BBC six part series from the early eighties. We have Arthur lying in front of the JCB, intent on saving his house from destruction when Ford turns up to save him from destruction when the Earth is obliterated.
And maybe that’s part of the problem throughout.
Too many echoes from the past.
Too much reliance on nostalgia and the hope that the original series is beloved to actually craft anything truly remarkable because, truth be told, I’ll never watch this again, but I may rewatch the series at some point.
Might not though and, if I don’t, it’s due to the inherent problem in putting Hitchhiker’s onto the screen: Zaphod Beeblebrox.
Beeblebrox is such an unlikeable character, it’s actually hard to suffer him. The same was true of the characterisation in the series, and it’s still true here, and it’s no fault of the actors. They are playing the character correctly, it’s just he’s near insufferable, which does not a pleasant viewing experience make. On paper, it works just fine but, when brought to life, it’s hard to take.
No huge fan of Hitchhiker’s, I was kind of hoping this might convert me to the cause, as my credibility in the halls of geekdom takes a bit of a knock, what with this and Blade Runner sending me to the naughty step, but no, this merely confirmed my love-hate relationship with the concept.
Love the way it starts.
Love the setup.
Love the idea.
Don’t really like the end product, though.
Sorry, Douglas.