2005. Director- Garth Jennings.
Douglas Adams’ seminal science-fiction novel had been stuck in development hell for over 20 years, with many directors (Ivan Reitman, Jay Roach, Spike Jonze) and actors (Jim Carrey, Bill Murray, Johnny Depp) circling it like hungry vultures, hungry to bring it to the big screen. It took advertising maestro Garth Jennings (who would later make the superb Son of Rambow. If you haven’t seen that, go buy it now) to finally bring the adaptation to fruition. It doesn’t feature any of the names previously mentioned, but it does have one hell of a cast. Martin Freeman is perfect as the affable, oh-so-very-British Arthur Dent, the adorable Zooey Deschanel delectable as the love interest, Sam Rockwell is very funny as the idiotic President of the Universe, as is John Malkovich as his political rival. There is literally talent bursting from the seams, with appearances from Stephen Fry, Helen Mirren, and Alan Rickman is hilarious as the deeply depressed android Marvin. I haven’t read the book (although i intend to now) so I can only judge the film on its standalone merits, and for me it was a success. Very funny, at times irreverent, surreal and bizarre (got to love when the characters turn into knitted dolls), visually impressive (a nice mixture of CGI and old-school handmade effects), and extremely enjoyable. Nicely atheistic as well (the Earth was created by mice!). I thoroughly enjoyed this film, from beginning to end. Try getting the tune to “so long and thanks for all the fish” out of your head. Its bloody difficult.
Source:
http://lukemovieaday.wordpress.com/2012/12/08/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy/