Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Garth Jennings) - 2005

Science Fiction does not get any better than this.  The movie is based on the BBC radio comedy work of Douglas Adams (1952-2001).  The radio series was eventually published by Adams in the form of five novels written from 1978 through 1992.  Before his untimely death at the age of 49, Adams developed and pitched a movie screenplay that incorporated the five books.  Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) is the lucky/unlucky Brit who is saved by his friend Ford Prefect (Mos Def) just before the Earth is destroyed by the Vogons, a race of galactic bureaucrats who rely on a myriad of forms and details to make decisions for the universe.  Zooey Deschanel is delightful as Tricia/Trillian who wanted to go to Madagascar but decided instead to ride in a spaceship stolen by Galactic President Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell).  The glue of the story is the hitchhiker's guide that explains it all.  Director Jennings created here the ultimate merger of syfy and absurdist humor.  [JAM 3/10/2012]