[HPFGU-Movie] Adapting books to the big screen (WAS watered-down characte...

[ripleywriter at aol.com]

As far as the movies go...I saw the first one without having read any of the 
books, so, I have that perspective to share. I loved it! I didn't find any 
writing flaws and I thought it was original and visually stunning, and the 
word magical came up a lot when I was discussing it with friends. But then I 
was interested in reading the books, so I bought the first one, read it, was 
blown away to some distant part of my brain that could only utter "wow..." 
and wondered, "How the heck did I ever understand *anything* in the movie?" 
and "How the heck did I even *enjoy* the movie?" That was my initial 
reaction. 

Now when I re-watch the movie, SS, I can't enjoy it for its writing because 
if I tried, I'd be leaving empty-handed. So, in the case of the HP movies 
they serve two purposes in my mind: as a visually compelling addition to the 
books, or as an entertaining jaunt for the kids. 

In the case of books adapting to movies...Sometimes it goes well, as I think 
the case is with The Cider House Rules. Now, do you know *why* the movie 
worked even though it cut out a major character, about 15 years, etc, 
etc...the movie cut *a lot* and changed quite a bit, but, it worked because 
the movie was adapted into a screenplay by the author of the book. And not 
only that, he took his damn time, too, about 10-15 years, maybe even more (my 
memory is awful but I know it was a long time)

That's something else, as well; I do believe they rushed the movies. When you 
think about it, they never would have gotten the fabulous actors they have 
now if they hadn't made them when they did (say, if they waited until the 
series was all written), and for all the griping I can do about the HP 
movies, bad acting was never a complaint. Sometimes the kids have their stale 
moments, but that never bothers me; they're kids acting among kids a lot of 
the time, and hoo boy I have seen *far* worse. The HP kids impress the hell 
out of me. ;-)

I think it's just a shame; the movies could have been something to write home 
about if J.K. had been at the helm of the screenplays. I suppose she had no 
interest, but I never did hear: she was approached to write them, wasn't she? 


Melly