The movie was not too much away from the novel and didn't mess up the story. The acting was good; I do not care for Tom Hanks as this character (not who I saw in my head while reading) but this casting doesn't distract from an overall aceeptable movie. The one real complaint I have is that, at times, the riveting, driven score was so loud I missed the dialogue and couldn't even hear when I asked my husband what was said . Perhaps it was the theatre we were in...we will see when we buy it because the shots of Rome and the chuches which stood in for the Roman ones are magnificent.