Should have done the first book
The first book in the series, The Given Day, was superior in every way to this one
shareI personally like Live By Night a bit more. Both are great, but sometimes The Given Day could be a little more concise and play down the POV from secondary characters. But hey, that's just me.
I'd like to see an adaption of The Given Day too, but sadly WB doesn't own the rights to the books. Not sure who acquired it, but I read somewhere there were plains to turn that into a miniseries, which I think it's a better fit considering the novel's size and quantity of characters. Live By Night has a much more cinematic narrative, when I read it I felt like there was a movie playing inside my head.
Oh yeah a miniseries for The Given Day would be perfect, all the characters had interesting stories and could be developed more fully that way. Live by Night looks pretty promising I am looking forward to seeing it. I can picture the cast members in each role
shareThe only actor I'm still not 100% on board with is Affleck himself. I'm sure he'll do a good job, but he's too old for the role. Maybe they're changing the character's age on the movie, though.
shareYeah he should maybe have found someone younger to play that role, I agree he does not fit the age of the role.
shareDo you have to read the first book to understand live by night?
Not at all. I didn't even know there was a first book when I read it. There are some references to events from the first book, but all properly contextualized. It's a stand-alone story.
shareI too read Live By Night first and felt - and still do feel - it's fine as a stand alone and clearly the best of the series... I'm really happy to see it coming to the screen.
shareHonestly I think he should have done what he did in Gone Baby Gone and cast his brother Casey Affleck as the lead. He is the perfect age and understands the Boston culture just as well.
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