TAKE away the controversial central conceit about the bloodline of Jesus Christ and you're left with a pretty runof-the-mill thriller.

If it hadn't have been for this much-talked about aspect of Dan Brown's book would anyone have given it a second look or would it have stayed unread on the shelf at your local library?

But talked about book inevitably means talked about movie. Director Ron Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman - who worked together on A Beautiful Mind and Cinderella Man - have done a decent enough job at satisfying fans of the book and for those who like their movie thrillers to be more talk than action. A few screeching police cars, a quick car chase and a few fights are minor distractions from all the nattering about religious societies, church secrets and the Holy Grail.

The Da Vinci Code is essentially an illustrated crossword puzzle in which the fun comes from the unravelling of each seemingly impossible clue.

A very large suspension of disbelief is required as Hanks's Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is called to the Louvre museum in Paris after an elderly curator is found dead, leaving behind a series of symbols and clues to a far bigger mystery than his death.

With cryptologist Sophie Neveu (Tautou) by his side, he embarks on a whistlestop tour of Europe and churches as he follows the clues, pursued by Reno's cop and Bettany's monk assassin while McKellen hams it up as the he's-not-all-he-seems Sir Leigh Teabing and Molina pops up occasionally as a shady bishop. The two-and-a-half hours passes quickly enough, even if you think the film has ended at least three times before it actually does.

Hanks, if you can take your gaze away from his amazing new hairstyle, makes an earnest if hesitant hero, pluckily supported by Tautou's numbers girl - a sort of Carol Vorderman to his Richard Whiteley.

Starring: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Alfred Molina, Paul Bettany, Jean Reno, Jurgen Prochnow
Running Time: 149 mins
Rating: 4 Stars