The critics have been cruel to this movie, undeservedly so. The book wasn’t great art and the film isn’t either. But it is a fun and entertaining thriller-suspense flick. I settled in with a box of overpriced Raisinettes and enjoyed myself thoroughly.

The movie’s narrative push is faster and clearer than the book’s, enough to keep all the talky backstory from bogging down. And there’s plenty of talky backstory. The thing that lifted the book from well-crafted boilerplate to international blockbuster was its religious hocus pocus. Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou (she of the big brown eyes) discuss these Important Questions at length as they race across France.

Naturally, all the God talk gets controversial. The script endeavors mightily to dance around the subject, but Dan Brown’s original text is too subversive to be fully subdued. It’s slightly shocking to hear Tom Hanks, the veritable Jimmy Stewart of our time, question whether Jesus was actually divine or merely a man. Forty years ago delivering those lines would have killed the career of any major actor.

When I walked out of the theater the protesters were there. A group of older folks held posters with sayings like “Defend Our Lord, Reject Da Vinci Code.” But right next to them was a group of teenage boys, 14 or 15 years old, who also held signs. I had to blink my eyes to make sure I was reading them right. They read “Da Vinci Code: Two Thumbs Up!”

I asked one of the boys, “Are you guys…counter-protesters?” “Yup,” he chirped happily. I had to laugh. Who says today’s youth is apathetic? They were a great bunch. One had a mohawk, another had his skateboard with him. “Well,” I said, “keep up the good work.” “Thanks!” he said.

I was happy to see how peaceful the the protesters and the counter-protesters were with one another. Very Christian, actually.