Silliness, that’s the first thing that pops into my mind when thinking about this film. However that would belie the inherent message that the movie is trying to relay, “Don’t Panic”. The story is about an unassuming man from a nondescript area in the U.K.,named Arthur, and his friend Ford. Arthur awakens to find that his life has been turned upside down due to te fact that his home must be demolished in order to make way for an expressway bypass. As if this news wasn’t startling enough,his friend Ford arrives just as Arthur is being threatened by the construction crew,to deliver even heavier news. Arthur learns that not only do Aliens exist, but that Ford is one of them.
Ford also explains to Arthur that they must leave the planet immediately, due to the fact that Earth’s destruction is imminent (as in the next 12 min.) As Arthur and Ford share a last drink on Earth, Arthur telles of a lost love,and thus introduces the two remaining main characters of the movie. They make their escape by Hitching a ride on the alien construction vessel and galactic hijinx ensues,as they bound from planet to planet in search of “The Question”. This question is to be paired with the answer 42 to reveal the true meaning of life.
As campy as it might sound the story does go to great lengths to make the point that the meaning of life is different for everyone, and that we all (all beings in the Multiverse) search for that meaning. Arthur finally realize that the meaning of (His)life is to love the one who got away(and whom he found again in space), and thus all is once again put right with the world and the galaxy.
omegaruth 