Douglas Adams’s “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” is an incredibly famous book with a huge fan following. It started as a BBC radio show and went on to be a ‘Trilogy in four parts’ and then ‘five parts.’ It became a TV series and has now finally become a movie. It is the first film directed by Garth Jennings and it kind of shows. The film is solely for the lovers of the cult and generally expects you to have read the book, sort of ‘done your homework’ before coming to the film. That’s where it sort of fails. It has its magic moments but is generally a haphazard, super fast, shaky narrative of an amazingly cocky and enchanting new-age fairy tale. Though Douglas died in 2001, he is credited with the screenplay and one wonders what must have been going on in his mind when he agreed to this particular plot selection.

The story, though immensely convoluted, is based on a simple premise: the earth is demolished to make way for inter-galactic highway and minutes before, our sappy hero Arthur Dent is able to hitchhike a ride on the spaceship of the construction crew with the help of his friend Ford Prefect, who, just happens to be from another planet. What follows is a complex journey through different planets in the galaxy and eventually the lives of the main characters are saved by a paranoid android, Marvin.

Well, at least that’s what the movie feels like zooming past our intellect at light speed. While the book is packed with adorable, memorable characters and sub-plots, the film is bereft of any real narrative element. It almost seems to be an exercise in reminding you how the book went. None of the characters really connect to you. Event the incisive mutterings of Marvin, the depressed robot are more or less lost in the midst. I think some books are just not ‘movie-able’ and this is a perfect example.

This ride isn’t taking you anywhere. If you really want to die laughing your best bet is to go old-fashioned and read the book.