H2G2

was funny, but not funny enough. It would have made 7 monkeys clap in unison even before breakfast if they'd understand what was going on in the show - but since they probably don't understand, you won't ever get all 7 of them to do such acts together. They're terribly proud of this act, and display it sparingly - perhaps only during pompous ocassions such as successful taming of the new zookeeper, or arrival of lunch.

But then, I'm digressing.

If you've read the books before the show, you would have cried foul (or simply a shocking 'Noooooooo' [remember to tail off in lowering amplitudes for better effects]) at their not following the plot to the letter. Quite right that the characters were there (Hail to Zaphod, the greatest ceremonial figurehead(s) to divert the citizens' attention without trying!), but I'm quite sure that they went to the Restaurant at the End of the Universe for luncheon in book 2, which was before the time earth was recreated by the dophins (yes, the dolphins recreated earth! Not the mice! The mice were out of cheese to fund such a grand-scaled project). Don't ask me how they managed to get to the Restaurant at the End of the Universe when the universe is (No, was. No, hadden was. No, hadden wassen. I am pretty bad at imperfect past-in-the-future tense) still around.

And they've left out lots more interesting scenarios that I can't even begin to mention (There was an interesting concept of 'restaurant mathematics', where the Infinite Improbability Drive used the unfathomed field of mathematics derived from the dynamic motions of waiters (how do waiters in a restaurant balance several plates of food and maneuver themselve in a crowded room of clumsy customers waving their hands about shouting 'Garcon!', without dropping their plates? That, my dear, is mathematically impossible in nature...)

and let's not even start with the Sense of Proportion incident, where Arthur faced the horrible torture instrument which gave him the full grasp of knowing how infinitesimally microscopically small he is when compared with the size of the universe. Most people would go insane with shame right after that, but Arthur went right off with a clean bill of health, with a satisfied ego.

To cut a long story short, you might not enjoy the show so much if you've watched the books. But it's intrinsically a funny movie, one which you would enjoy anyway. Just that having read the five books in the trilogy(?) will dampen your spirits that bit, because justice is not carried out to perfection with the books in the movie.