The novel or the Movie

i think this movie is one instance where the movie is just as good, or maybe even better, than the book. both tells the same story, but both adaptations are utterly effective.

there's been plenty of posts about how the book is better, so i'll focus on two aspects that i feel the movie is better.

first, the movie's take on the flashback scene, being presented in that order, is something that the book did not have. i feel this method is more effective. first we see the extreme contrast between Melinda Before and Melinda After. i listened to the director commentaries, and apparently many viewers thought they used different actresses to portray Melinda. throughout the movie, the flashbacks showed how she looked before the rape, then right afterwards. the audience knew something horrible happened to her, but doesn't know exactly what happened; they only know the consequence of her calling the police. the flashbacks also dovetails neatly into the ending scene (to date, the only part of a movie that ever moved me to tears): how Melinda looked before, and the recovered and much stronger Melinda leaning out of her mother's car. I feel the movie used the flashbacks far more effectively than the book.

the other thing that the movie did better at was the use of the tree metaphors. i feel the book used them much more loosely and haphazardly. the tree metaphors in the movie were done in a more focused and logical manner. there's also something that i've picked up: near the beginning, Melinda's mom bought her a sweater with a flower pattern, which Melinda refused to wear for whatever reason. much later in the movie, she goes back to the scene of the rape, and there was a plant exactly like the one on her sweater. i don't know exactly what to make of it, but it is clearly done on purpose. near the end when Melinda showed Mr. Freeman her collection of tree drawings, the progression of the trees almost retells the entire story right there.

alright i've rambled long enough. in the end, i'll sum it up like this: the book is a much more detailed look at Melinda's character development. the movie is the same story, but delivered like a punch in the gut. it is the story distilled down to a purer form, and is much more potent as a result (at least in some cases). thus, i feel the movie is JUST AS good, or maybe even BETTER, than the book.

This film looks like a weak adaptation of a strong novel. I haven't read the book yet, but I suspect there's a lot more heft to it than this film. These images are better left to your imagination as a reader than translated to the big screen, but this film makes me want to seek the book out.

there were parts that i liked in both the book and in the movie.
in the book, i liked that melinda made a bathroom wall writing about andy evans, and how he is a creep.
in the movie, i liked how they showed how andy was always following her in the hallways in the least noticeable ways, like putting his arms around her at the lunch table with the other girls, or him talking to her in the art room, looking for rachel.
however, the end confrontation with andy and melinda i liked better in the book. it shows that andy is still after her, but he is still kind of interested in her sexually. in the movie he just yells at her, then she puts the stuff in his eyes. i think that in the book, he did a better job of getting his point accross.

its a wonderful lie.

The novel. My general opinion is that the book is usually better, and it was definitely better than the movie in this case. I don't like that the director changed the ending.

~Vivian