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The Da Vinci Code | 2006 | PG-13 | - 5.7.4

Based on Dan Brown's best-selling thriller, the story starts with Tom Hanks as a famous symbologist who's called to the Paris Louvre one night in order to decipher ancient symbols found scrawled on the body of a murdered curator. With the help of a French police cryptologist (Audrey Tautou) he uncovers a 2,000-year-old conspiracy to keep the true status of Mary Magdalene a secret from the faithful. Also with Ian McKellen, Paul Bettany, Jean Reno, Alfred Molina and Jurgen Prochnow. Directed by Ron Howard. [2:29]

SEX/NUDITY 5 - In a brief scene, a man and a woman on a table appear to be having sex: they hold each other and her bare back and his bare shoulders are visible while people stand around them and watch (it appears to be a ritual of some sort).
 In a very quick cut we see a man standing and a woman kneeling in front of him in darkened woods and although it is not at all clear there is an implication that something sexual is taking place.
 We see a dead body on the floor in several scenes and although he is fully nude, a bright light shines on his genitals in such a way that nothing is discernable. We see a fully nude man in several scenes and his bare buttocks, legs, back, chest and abdomen to the hip are visible. A man is bare-chested with a towel wrapped around his waist while shaving. A woman's top is unbuttoned low and reveals a small amount of cleavage.
 Prostitutes lean into car windows presumably propositioning the occupants and we see the women wearing revealing outfits that show legs to the thigh, cleavage and abdomens.
 A man kisses a woman's hand, a man and a woman hug and he kisses her head, and a man kisses a man on the head (it does not appear sexual). A woman rubs a man's head tenderly to help him overcome fear.
 There are many scenes that show Renaissance paintings depicting naked people (both male and female), revealing bare breasts, buttocks and bare chests, as well as a few instances of depictions of nude cherubs that reveal bare buttocks and male genitals.
 There are a few discussions of the meaning of symbols and their representations of the male sex organ and female womb.

VIOLENCE/GORE 7 - A man practices corporal mortification in a few scenes that includes: tightening a celice (a barbed metal strap) around one of his thighs; we see him remove it from one leg and see skin being tugged and blood seeping from the wounds, and see him strap it to the other leg and pulling to cause the hooks to dig into his skin and blood pours from the wounds. He is also seen whipping himself on the back with a knotted rope that may incorporate small hooks (the rope tears the skin on his back, we see it pull up and blood seeps from the open wounds).
 In several scenes we are shown the bloody body of a dead man: we see a bloody bullet hole in his abdomen and a pool of blood on the floor next to him, as well as a pentagram made out of blood on his chest.
 A man shoots a few men, he is then shot once, he shoots another man who falls to the ground (he does not die) and he is shot three more times (we see blood on the wounds and he twitches and dies). A man is shot in the abdomen, he moans, he staggers trying to stand and we see his hands covered with blood. A man beats his wife and a teenage boy (their son) stabs the man in the back.
 A man being beaten by two men has a very bloody face and another man breaks the necks of the two attackers (we hear a crunch). A man punches a man in the nose (we see a lot of blood) and then kicks him repeatedly in the stomach while he is on the floor. A man hits a woman in the head with a heavy object (we see her fall to the floor dead, with a bloody wound on her head). A man hits a man in the head and stomach with a cane and a woman hits his head against the floor. A man shoves the door of an armored truck open and hits a man on the outside in the head (we see his bloody head when he falls to the ground).
 We see a few sequences of battles where men on horseback ride into villages and battle with swords: we see a man stabbed through the chest and through his bed (we see the bloody sword push through the bottom of the bed), and we see a man tied to a stake and burning (he thrashes and smoke billows around him). We see what look like riot scenes where people fight in streets: a man is dragged by the arms and branded on the face with a hot iron, and another man is speared through the chest and lifted into the air (we see blood on his chest).
 A man holds a gun to a man's head, punches another man in the face (he falls to the floor), and shoots at a man and a woman as they run away.
 We see a car accident where a car crashes head on into a truck and we hear that a man, a woman and one child were killed. A man drives recklessly into oncoming traffic. A man and a woman speed away in a truck as another man shoots at them.
 A man holds a knife to a woman's throat (we see a small cut and a small amount of blood). A woman has a bloody knee after cutting it on stone. A man and a woman are forced to their knees by a man with a gun. A man is bound and gagged with duct tape. A man is shoved into the trunk of a car and the lid is closed. A woman slaps a man in the face twice. A man is grabbed around the throat and shoved into a wall.
 A man shoots a gun into an armored truck where a man and a woman are. A man threatens a man and a woman with a gun to their heads. A man runs through a museum and appears frightened, and another man chases him then threatens him with a gun. Two men are surrounded by armed police.
 We hear about people being "butchered by the church." We hear about a boy being trapped in a well overnight and having to tread water to stay alive (we see a couple of sequences where the boy struggles to try to climb the wall of the well). A woman tells a man that his god does not forgive murderers but rather burns them. We hear about witch hunts and the Inquisition and we see women being drowned and others in cages being taken to stakes where they would be burned.
 A man looks at a photo of a dead body (we see just a flash of the image and can make out blood and grey-tinged flesh). A man cuts himself shaving (we see blood on his face and a trickle in the sink).
 A woman gives birth (we see her scream and struggle and see the infant covered with slime and blood). A man is poisoned and we see him gag and gasp and fall to the ground dead.
 A woman drives in reverse through crowded streets for an extended period of time, and she drives up onto sidewalks and is nearly squeezed between two trucks. A man drives a truck with three passengers through thick woods, and away from the police that are trying to catch them (a tree branch breaks the windshield).
 A man suffers from claustrophobia and we see him sweating and being very anxious in confined spaces. An elderly woman is frightened when shutters on her window blow closed. We see a young girl running away from a man and she appears upset and frightened.
 A man driving says, "I could run them over" about being tempted to run down people who try to prevent them from passing. Police speed in cars while chasing people in several scenes.
 We see a photo of people wearing robes that look like those worn by the Ku Klux Klan. We see people wearing gilded masks and robes in a few scenes performing what appears to be a ritual. A man breaks up a church floor using a hammer.
 A painting of a battle scene between men and skeletons is visible in the distance (men are shown slain on the ground and a skeleton holds a sword). People walk through a temple that has large stone heads and faces on the walls, which are scary and one has a small rodent-looking creature nibbling at its ear.
 A man yells at several men.

LANGUAGE 4 - 5 scatological terms, 2 anatomical terms, 4 mild obscenities, 1 derogatory term for the physically challenged, 5 religious exclamations.

SUBSTANCE USE - A man prepares to take a drug using a hypodermic needle, but he does not. A man makes a reference to an "old cannabis charge." A man smokes a cigar in a couple of scenes.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Christianity, Christ's divinity, Mary Magdalene, Opus Dei, The Knights Templar, the Priory of Sion, corporal mortification, religion, symbols, Isaac Newton, pagan symbols and rituals, hoaxes, historical distortion, death of family, claustrophobia, treasure hunts, crisis of faith, murder in the name of religion, the Inquisition, witch hunts, royal bloodlines, power, ego, the soul, the Holy Grail, mysteries, racism, puzzles, codes, myths, the Ku Klux Klan.

MESSAGE - Religion and faith are in the eye of the beholder. The pious are not beyond committing murder and other atrocities in the name of religion. Jesus Christ may have been married to Mary Magdalene, with whom he may have had a child.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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