A failed attempt to inject action and romance into a comedy of farce. Sequences were too short to deliver the joke. For example, the joke of 'do not press this button again' was not preceded by the curiosity of the function of the button. Blinked and you'd have missed it. The monologue where the Vogon captain announces the destruction of the Earth didn't have a dramatic pause for the apparant reply from a human. As a result, the monologue seemed nonsensical. I couldn't even detect the change of tone into bureaucratic anger. That joke fell flat.
As for the romance. That wrecks the essence of Hitchhiker's. Arthur Dent is supposed to be permanently annoyed at a Universe that is mad at every level. Romance gives hope and makes the Universe more sane.
Injecting action cut out time for the comedy. The rescue of Trillian wasn't necessary and time spent on explanations from the Book would have been better.