"there were a few whistles and hisses, and there was none of the scattered applause even bad films sometimes receive at Cannes". Critical response The Da Vinci Code holds a 26% approval rating on the film review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes based on a sample of 233 reviews and an average rating of 4.80/10. The critics' consensus states, "What makes Dan Brown's novel a best seller is evidently not present in this dull and bloated film adaptation of The Da Vinci Code." Another review aggregator, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 46 based on 40 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. The film was poorly received at the Cannes Film Festival, where it debuted. Michael Medved gave the film a negative review, citing it as an attack on religion. Anthony Lane of The New Yorker addressed the concerns of Catholics in his film review, stating that the film "is self-evident, spirit-lowering tripe that could not conceivably cause a single member of the flock to turn aside from the faith". In his Movie Guide, Leonard Maltin called the film "a letdown in every respect". Director Howard noted that the overwhelmingly negative reviews were "frustrating" to him. Conversely, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times (who had spoken very negatively of the novel) gave the film three out of four stars, writing, "The movie works; it's involving, intriguing and constantly seems on the edge of startling revelations." Of the storyline, he also commented, "Yes, the plot is absurd, but then most movie plots are absurd. That's what we pay to see." Lawrence Toppman of The Charlotte Observer, who also liked the film, gave it three and a half out of four stars and noted, "unlike most Hollywood blockbusters, this one assumes audience members will be smart". Although many critics gave mixed to negative reviews of the film, critics praised the performances of McKellen as well as Bettany. On the "Worst Movies of 2006" episode of the television show Ebert & Roeper (January 13, 2007), guest critic Michael Phillips (sitting in for the recovering Roger Ebert) listed the film at 2. The film earned a Razzie Award nomination for Ron Howard as Worst Director but lost to M. Night Shyamalan for Lady in the