The film is decent but it really does pale in comparison to the book. Not only do the leave SO much out but the characters are much more interesting in the book. They don’t really have time to develop them in a two hour feature film.
shareIt's impossible for a movie to completely follow a book. Whether the movie should be viewed before the book? I don't know. Many of the book's best scenes are fleshed out very well in the movie, especially Tom's re-telling of the Callanwolde incident and the dinner party where Tom makes Susan's husband apologize for his boorishness by dangling a Stradivarius over the balcony.
sharePOSSIBLE SPOILERS
It's impossible for a movie to completely follow a book.
Whether the movie should be viewed before the book? I don't know.
Many of the book's best scenes are fleshed out very well in the movie, especially Tom's re-telling of the Callanwolde incident and the dinner party where Tom makes Susan's husband apologize for his boorishness by dangling a Stradivarius over the balcony.
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I sooo agree. It's hard to incorporate a book into a movie, especially in only a two hour movie. The movie did a good job on those scenes, though they changed some scene. A few scenes I was disappointed that they didn't have. Still like I said it would have made the movie linger at a time when movies weren't made as long as they are now.
shareI only saw the movie and I thought it was a wonderful. The book must have been amazing. I don't read many books these days but if I do, I will have to buy that one.
shareI highly recommend the book..It's so much richer and centers more on the family (which is so much more interesting).
I realize adaptions must be condensed for the screen but when they make the movie out of one element of a book the book lovers are sure to be disappointed.
In this instance Barbra Striesand made the focus of the film on her and Tom's relationship ...and while I liked it for what it was...it's a very disappointing adaption of the book.
Arguably the primary protagonist in the book was Tom's brother Luke..such an extraordinary character that his barely being mentioned in the film is profound.
True, in the book Luke was a very important character. All the same, I loved the film too. How great was Nick Nolte in that scene in Barbra's office, melting down?
shareDon't get me wrong..I did like the film and Nolte and BS did a good job. But when the part of the book that they leave out happens to be someones favorite part than it's sure to smart.
Sophie's Choice and The World According to Garp were other favorite novels of mine and I thought the film adaptions were just perfect. And both had some pretty intricate subplots too so it's possible for me to be satisfied..
Was it Luke who was your favourite part? He was a fascinating character.
My only gripe was anything Barbra is in, she never lets you forget she's Barbra Streisand the Star. Makes it more difficult for me to lose myself in the story and characters.
I haven't read either Sophie's choice or TWAtG. Are they as long as TPoT? As I recall, it's something in the neighbourhood of 400 pages. A challenge to cut down to 2 hours, and not a challenge I'd want to tackle, lol.
The film Sophie's Choice was a killer. Had you read it first? I had no idea, going in, what it was about, and THAT scene ... I don't like thinking about it even now.
Which reminds me, when I was reading TPoT, I was out at a cafe, because I couldn't put the thing down. Just as I'd got into the Callanwolde, a friend came up and said hello. Luckily he was a fellow reader, because I know I looked up at him dazed, waved my hand and said "I can't talk right now," and he understood.
I would say Luke was important part of the story and the families traumas and the mothers ways of coping (by largely ignoring everything) which was the key to the adult children's issues. Luke didn't ignore things and he also didn't make it ..and it felt ignored in the movie in favor of focusing on Barbra.
Yeah, Barbra never lets much of the attention get away from her. She's very talented, of course.. but consider another diva...Cher.
Cher could play it broad as in Moonstruck...but she could also put her ego aside like in Mask or Silkwood and let the story tell itself.
I would say that SC and TWATG were comparable in length to the Prince of Tides...500-600 pages. I use to love that length when it was a good one.
I did read SC before the film so was already aware of the horror that was coming for Sophie but it didn't make it any less haunting. It's the kind of book that stays with you a long time .
I agree, Luke was a central (if not visible) part of the story. He was the driving force behind everyone, except the father.
Funny you should mention Cher, because when I was writing my other post I thought of her in Moonstruck. I loved it overall, but rolled my eyes at the transformation scene once she got home, where she became CHER! 😄 It'd have been better without that, or done differently. Anyway, true, she was willing to immerse herself in the characters in both Mask and Silkwood, and for a good part of Moonstruck.
I didn't realise SC and TWATG were both that long. It's a daunting length to dig into, but if a book really hooks you, as TPoT did me, then it's wonderful.
I don't think I could read SC. The movie was so well done, but it's brutal, and I suspect the book may be even more so. Last time I watched it I had to FF through that scene. Too heartbreaking.
I read the book before I saw the movie, and love them both. Although a friend I went with to see it had also read the book and wasn't a fan of the movie.
The book is excellent. Not just because it tells this fascinating tale, with all the nuances of the characters you can't squeeze into 2 hours, but because the prose is so beautiful.
For the record, the author of the book co-wrote the screenplay. He thought it was a real piece of shit. He said Barabara Streisand more or less re-wrote it and he says her version of the screenplay is much much better than his was. He absolutely loved the movie she made out of it. At least, he claimed all of this in interviews. S'pose he was lying?
I'm under the impression he had a good understanding that it's not reasonable to expect a movie adaptation to match the source material, ever... more so when it's a book as dense as this one.