I haven't seen the movie, but I have read the book. It's an entertaining piece of trash that requires one to shut down one's critical faculties. An indicator of its quality is the use of the stock figure, The Evil Albino.

Wrong link. Try again: The Evil Albino.

ink, as cjoseph says I found it not only trash but badly written trash.
But who am I to complain, it has brought thousands of gullible US tourists to the UK spending their $$$'s in their search for the 'truth'.

ditto what veer said

I've just finished reading Rat Scabies and the Holy Grail by Christopher Dawes; it gives you lots of information about the whole Rennes-le-Chateau mystery, but doesn't pretend to know the answers. Much more entertaining than the non-fiction tomes with an agenda, and probably better written than the DVC (which I haven't read, and won't read).

Alternatively, play the computer game Gabriel Knight 3 - Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned, which was my first encounter with the whole Rennes story and has the added fun of 'solving' some of the puzzles along the way. The introduction of vampires is unique to the game, though; they don't normally feature in Rennism!

incognito, are you reading "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" by Leigh and Baignent, upon which Dan Brown based his novel?

I read both, "Holy Blood..." and Devinci Code. Not much to say, I found DVC an easy fast fun read and Holy Blood..quite the opposite.

I've avoided The Da Vinci Code like the plague and now I find it on the reading list for a Crime Fiction course I'm taking next semester. What's worse, it's the final novel in the final class I will ever have on my undergraduate degree. That's not exactly the way I would have chosen to end.

Ye Gods, that's giving the book a significance far above its literary value...

Perhaps it was chosen as an example of how an extremely poorly written novel can become a best seller.

Hmmm...

Actually, it's not that bad. It's not brilliant writing, true, but it's not extremely poor either. It's got pace, it's a real page-turner, and the premise (though not original) is quite interesting, and at least internally fairly consistent, even if it's historical and religious nonsense. I've read a lot worse-written bestsellers. (Don't get me started on The Labyrinth by Kate Mosse!)

But good literature it ain't !

For fans of Vatican conspiracies, here's a possible genuine one. It's not as far-reaching as The DaVinci Code but all the more credible for that.

If you can suspend disbelief and accept improbable situations as realistic, you'll enjoy it-as a brain-potato chip thriller. It does read quickly, except when Brown "stops the film" for a bit of background info you need to be going on with, which he delivers with a heavy, lecture-like pen. But soon the fast-forward button is pressed and away you go again.
I would suggest, if you are purchasing, the edition complete with illustrations-having the paintings and architectural photos there means you can keep reading, not stop and go to Google to have the full experience.
But I still liked Rule of Four better. Just because I'm in the vast minority doesn't mean I'm wrong! hehehe!