I have to say, I am worried about the film adaptation of The Help. I saw the trailer early this week, and I actually gasped out loud at various scenes as my mind was flooded with the memory of that amazing book. It has been over a year since I devoured that entire novel in just one sitting. I thought it was a masterpiece. And I am worried. Because even though I find Emma Stone pretty much the most delightful thing since Zooey Deschanel, I worry for what can happen during the migration from page to screen. Sometimes it just gets lost in translation. Sometimes the casting is bad, sometimes the movie takes too many leaps or makes too many changes, and sometimes, well, sometimes things just work better in print. Some books are not meant to be movies. I am slightly fearful of seeing Water for Elephants for the same exact reason.
I’m nervous that these books are destined to follow in the footsteps of the books/movies below. These are very worst of the books that just did not translate well at all…
1. The Scarlet Letter. Wow. This movie. Gary Oldman as Arthur Dimmesdale? Good. Demi Moore as Hester Prynne? WHAT IN THE SAM HELL was the thought process behind that? And why did they try to make the movie so sexy? And what is up with the happy ending? Happy? Seriously?
2. The DaVinci Code. So, this wasn’t my most favorite book of all time, but it certainly was a page-turner, and you would think that simply by the fast-paced, keeping-you-on-your-toes way it was written, it would translate easily into a movie. Only, it didn’t, because it was slllllllllooooow and the only thing memorable in the movie was Tom Hanks’ horrifying hair.
3. The Time Traveler’s Wife. Oh this was a true disappointed to me. The movie version focused too much on the actual time travel – that didn’t quite translate well enough – and didn’t build the beauty that was the love story. While reading the cook, I was completely emotionally invested in Claire and Henry’s story, yet while watching the movie, I didn’t feel how deep and true their connection was. I didn’t feel it at all. Also, in the book, the timeline jumping and skipping around somehow felt slightly more linear than in the movie, which just seemed very jumpy and disconnected.
4. Love in the Time of Cholera. This was, by far, one of my most favorite books of all time. The love story in this book is just exquisite. The movie, however, didn’t even touch on about half of the book, which disappointed me, especially because some of my favorite scenes and pieces of dialogue were left on the cutting room floor. And instead of being beautiful like the book was, the movie seemed a little bit more Javier Bardem nudey Latin soap opera than love story. Shame.
5. Fever Pitch. Okay. What? As a book, this worked so ridiculously well. The movie version, however, moved the story from England to Boston and changed the entire sport to baseball and focused way way way too much on the romance, which was with, gulp, Drew Barrymore. This movie did not work at all for me. I am loathe to even call it an adaptation, because it’s barely recognizable.
Now there are some that do work, and they are worth mentioning. The Princess Bride, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Gone With the Wind, The Virgin Suicides, Silence of the Lambs, Fight Club, Mystic River, To Kill a Mockingbird.
What about you??? Any books that totally just didn’t work as movies for you? Any books that did?
Ali Martell, is the managing editor of Canada’s Premier Parenting Site, The Yummy Mummy Club. She is also a writer, an ellipticizer, a mother, a wife, a lion-tamer, a diet coke quitter, a juggler, a getter-of-drinks. She is Canada’s Emma Pillsbury and her three children tell her that she is a DOF (destroyer of fun). She is learning to use her camera better and love her thighs more. You can read more from Ali on her blog, Cheaper Than Therapy.
I loved Water for Elephants and the movie did not disappoint. I think the translation to the big screen was done well. Sure, there were some differences, but for the most part it followed the book well and was good. Don’t be scared.
I agree with Greis. The filmography in the movie was so beautiful that it easily did justice to the beauty of the book even though it wasn’t exactly the same.
I thought the Harry Potter movies were a great on-screen translation of the (much loved by me) books. While I’ve enjoyed quite a few Stephen King novels, I’ve never been a fan of them on the big screen- the magic of his descriptions are lost.
I haven’t read the Harry Potter series, save for the first one (I KNOW) so I can’t really judge at all. And as far as Stephen King goes…I think there are a lot that worked: Stand By Me, The Green Mile. THe Shining. Pet Sematary. Shawshank Redemption. Those all worked for me. But there were a lot of his that didn’t. Most notably = IT. So bad.
While I’m still picking my jaw off the ground regarding Harry Potter (OY!) I will definitely agree that the Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption worked. Touche! But IT (which is what was filling my mind as I wrote the original comment) was SO SO SO BAD that it has forever turned me from a King adaptation, at least without someone vouching that it is worth the price of admission!!
I am with you on the HP series, Daisy. I think it suffered a lot from “plot-point-itis” and each one felt extremely rushed (let’s not even get specific on the horror that was Goblet of Fire). I could almost see the bullet points running down the side of the screen. The one good thing about them (for me, at least) was the fact that they gave me good visuals to work with when I read the books again. I’m terribly auditory, so it’s hard for me to generate mental images.
As for SK’s work, I loved, loved, loved The Green Mile and hated, hated, hated the adaptation of The Stand. A TV miniseries, for crying out loud? I think SK really just needs to issue a blanket refusal to any miniseries offers that come his way. They can only end in tears.
Whoops! Sorry about the misinterpretation on HP. I saw the “Oy!” and took that in a negative way. I just followed the thread up and re-read your original comment about loving them.
The Shawshank Redemption is one that I’ve never been able to bring myself to see. I believe that it is a good movie. I do. But I just love that short story so, so, so, so much that I can’t watch the movie, because no matter how well done it is, it will never live up to my expectations. Stand by Me is a wonderful adaptation, too, and I was fortunate that I saw the movie before reading the story, otherwise, I know it would have been another Shawshank Redemption. Carrie was also a good adaptation. But IT was just HORRID. I also disliked ‘Salems Lot and The Dead Zone. And I have to disagree with you on the Shining – although I like Kubrick’s version (Jack Nicholson is wonderful as Jack Torrance), for me to really enjoy it, I have to consider it as being inspired by the book, as Kubrick took a lot of artistic license. So much so that Stephen King actually withdrew his endorsement of the film at one point.
Shawshank is a movie I can watch over and over again. I think you’re missing out! One of my absolute favorites.
Ah, you’re watching the wrong Fever Pitch. Pick up the 1997 English version with a young Colin Firth. It is infinitely better, closer to the book and you get to look at Colin Firth for 2 hours.
Oh my heavenly days!
How did I not know that this even existed?????
The only film version I knew of was the horrific Drew Barrymore one.
*updates Netflix queue*
Precious was a better movie than the book. I probably can’t ever watch it again, but the movie actually translated better.
AGREE! Precious was great as a movie. I found the book a little bit hard to read, as far as the language goes, and it was much easier to soak in onscreen.
He’s Just Not That Into You. As a book, I loved it because was eye opening and gave great advice. The movie, In my opinion, was awful. I remember being angry after watching it, because I expected great things and got a watered down chick flick.
I didn’t read the book….but the movie was HORRIBLE.
The book was almost like an extended magazine article, with different dating scenarios. I read it after I had dated a lot of bad for me guys and it was a wake up call.
I totally agree! I loved the book…the movie could’ve been called something else & I would’ve enjoyed it more.
HitchHiker’s Guide to the Galaxy… I had such high expectations. ZOOEY DESCHANEL! But it was *terrible*.
Angels & Demons. Once I finally got into the book, I couldn’t put it down. The movie…the movie was horrible. They changed too many things. Took characters out. Gave other characters the missing actor’s roles. Just bad.
I’ve only read 1/2 of “The Help,” and when I saw the trailer for the movie, I gasped out loud, too. I’m not even sure the people who made the movie read the book.
White Oleander is a WONDERFUL book, but the movie with Michelle Pfiefer is just not good. they leave the best parts of the book out and add really random stuff.
I agree. I didn’t get past the first 20 minutes of the movie. I didn’t really care at all about the characters.
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. I *loved* that book and the movie darn near ruined it.
I loved the heck out of that book. Now I’m super glad that I didn’t see the movie!
The Notebook! While I liked the movie, I just found myself saying “Wait that’s not right!!” so many times! I have a hard time watching a movie that was a book and NOT comparing the two. I wish I could just sit down and enjoy it! Though I do want to see Water for Elephants and the Help. They were both great books!
They did a wonderful job with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but then Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader were both terrible adaptations. I have a tough time when movie-makers add things in because they think the book’s story isn’t enough to keep the audience engaged. It’s like, really? A story that has sold millions and millions of copies over decades of time isn’t engaging enough to keep as is? ARRRRGH.
I agree with the first comment, Water for Elephants the movie was pretty good. It’s not as amazing as the book, because you just can’t get that level of detail into a movie, but they did a much better job with it than The Time Traveler’s Wife. I’m worried about The Help too, and crossing my fingers it turns out well!
Let’s see here. Atonement, No Country for Old Men, The Bridges of Madison County, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Pride and Prejudice are all books that I loved that I felt the movie did justice to.
Bridge to Terabithia, The Joy Luck Club, The Dead Zone, and Snow Falling on Cedars, to name a few, not so much!
Bridge to Terabithia! Ugh. That is all.
The only movie adaptation I enjoyed more than the original book was Memoirs of a Geisha. If the sheer beauty of seeing that world on screen doesn’t capture you, the incredible acting by Gong Li, Ziyi Zhang, and Michelle Yeoh will. With the book, I found Arthur Golden slipped out of narrative voice a bit because he wanted to talk about some of the historical facts. Obviously he put a ton of effort into researching, and it was interesting stuff, but it jolted me out of the story.
Both the movie and the book were amazing!! I loved all the scenery of the movie and it helped bring the book to life, I felt. Also the score was just beautiful to listen too. The casting for the film was perfect.
I have a tendency to despise movies once I’ve read the book. I have a pretty vivid imagination, so I see this world that the author has created, and I fall in love with these characters. Then I see the movie, and it’s just all wrong. Or they change things, that IMO should not have been changed, or they left things out, or the actor doesn’t look how I imagined the character to look, etc, etc. For example, I loved, loved, loved the HP movies. But after OotP, I felt like I was missing a lot of the story, so I read the books. Then HBP (the movie) came out, and I was like, WTF?!?! They didn’t even mention this! And they didn’t even mention that! And holy cheese & rice, they left out half the story! I was incensed. Now upon repeated viewings, I can appreciate the movie separately from the book, but it’s difficult.
The only exception I’ve found is Circle of Friends. I liked the movie better than the book. Mostly because I thought the book was a pedantic, heavy read. The movie condensed it nicely.
I loved Circle of Friends…both the book and the movie.
I was totally going to mention HBP in my comments!!! I couldn’t agree more with what you said!!! The movie left out the MAIN POINT OF THE BOOK!!!! I completely understand that the books have TONS of events in them that the movies don’t relay, but seriously…it was like “oh i wonder who the HBP is?”….dum dum dum!!!!….”it’s ME!!!”-said by HBP but there was NO build up to WHY he was that….total disappointment on that one.
Seriously, you guys, I had to google all of your acronyms. Hee!
Eay Pray Love. The book was exactly what I needed to read at that exact moment in my life – it spoke to me in ways that a book never had before (is that weird?!)… then the movie happened. As far a feel-good, mindless movies go, I thought it was great, but as far as comparing it to the book… well I had to pretend that it wasn’t based off a book at all, otherwise I would have hated it. The movie focused on things that I found so unimportant in the book.
Amy, that book was the exact thing I needed to read at that exact moment in my life too. Not weird at all!
I even went to a book expo where the author was speaking (it was June of 06 or 07) and told her how it touched/helped me. We both shared a teary moment, and she signed the page that touched me the most (remember the part where the blue souls are on the roof-top?!?)
The Movie? Eh.
AH-MAY-ZING!!
I agree SO much about Eat Pray Love. I loved the book and really cared about the characters. After I saw the movie, my husband asked me what I thought and I said, “I can sum it up in one sentence: a woman with a lot of emotional problems goes to a lot of pretty places. The end.”. It was a big disappointment to me.
I actually thought Mystic River was disappointing. It was more the actors didn’t match the characters in the book. Other than Sean Penn because you can’t go wrong there. I did like Gone Baby Gone though. I guess it matters if you read the book first. I’m really looking forward to The Hunger Games but also worried that it’s going to suck.
I have heard people who didn’t like the movie version of Mystic River either. I, personally, thought they did a great job with all of the characters….especially the women. Wow. They were amazing!
I really have a lot of opinions on this topic only because I read like a maniac. Seriously, like on a good week 3-4 books. But I won’t write a novel I promise!!
The book “Water for Elephants” was amazing, and I really think the movie held up very well. “The Help” is next on my list for a book club, so I can’t say too much on that one yet. One of my favorite books that the movie was just completely horrible was “P.S. I Love You”. LOVED LOVED LOVED the book, and the movie…..ugh. I don’t know tho if it was Hilary Swank that ruined it for me….two reasons: I personally don’t like her as an actress, her mouth is HUGE! and second, I just really could not see her playing the main character of the book. Killed the movie.
The LOTR movies were amazing!!! To me, they actually helped make more sense of the books, even tho there were some events left out. I can’t wait to see The Hobbit when it comes out. As for young adult books, I think the Twilight series has held up very well.
What about book to TV? “The Vampire Diaries” was books way before a TV series. I bought those when they first came out when I was 12-13 and LOVED them. Now to me….even tho I love the show, it’s still hard to watch because of little things: Elena is blond not brunette, Caroline is a real bitch, Bonnie was a pale red head with Irish roots…..but the casting of Stefan and Damon are dead on. Now I read L.J. Smith’s other series I loved “The Secret Circle” is going to be a TV show. I really hope that holds up to the books.
I can’t stand when creators of TV shows and writers of movies take stories that are so laid out very well and completely twist and mess with them. The characters are completely described and developed already and then the screenwriters go and mess them up!!!
ok…this is getting longer then i thought….sorry!
Here is where I nerd myself out.
The Lord of the Rings was astounding in its video adaptation of the books, spot on! I am such a LOTR freak that I was so worried about it, but they were totally worth it.
I am also a Twilight ‘liker’ not lover…those books did very well translating to movies.
And harry Potter.
I sound like I am 13 and have pimples all over and I have never seen the light of day or else I am 42 and live in my parents basement. Yeah me!
Without spoiling it, I’m bitter about the ending of the movie, “My Sister’s Keeper.” I adored the book, but the movie made me mad.
Ha. I had SERIOUS issues with both the book AND the movie. Jodi Picoult makes me ANGRY on a regular basis. She needs to learn to write an ending that doesn’t blow. Heh.
That was my first Picoult book and I weeped when reading it. The movie, though, made me want to stab myself.
LOL. Yes, her endings are always kind of surprising … she likes killing off her characters, apparently.
I love Jodi P books, and I don’t even mind the ending, but the movie version made me again hate adaptations. Similar was the Lifetime version of her book – the Tenth Circle.
Me too! I loved that book, and was one of the few books I’ve read that caused a strong physical reaction from me. I HATED that they changed the story.
I refuse to watch this movie because on so many books I have loved, I have been let down. I just can’t go there anymore with books I really enjoyed. And now reading THEY CANGED THE STORY?! Never. The book was SO powerful.
I think the Twilight movies are pretty awful(but I still watch them). They are supposed to be deeply in love, but the movies are like one really long awkward first date. A shirtless Taylor Lautner is by far the best part of the movies.
AGREEEEEEEEED!
And also….find a better actress to play Bella. Kristen Stewart ruins movies.
Yes! This! I hated both the books and the movies (I watch to mock, but it’s like a car accident and I can’t look away), but I will say that the movies have done a good job of adapting the books. And that Taylor Lautner without a makes the movies. Even though I feel a little pervy for saying that, considering my age, haha
I’ve seen the preview for the The Help and so far the thing that has me kind of ticked off is that Hilly’s character is being played by someone that is not plump. Her plumpness is so totally part of her character and had so much to do with that one part of the book that it really upsets me that the didn’t cast her correctly.
Books to TV that I find deplorable? The whole True Blood series. I can’t even watch the series because of the horrible fake accents (I’m from that area people. The accents suck.). The books are very entertaining, but from what I can tell from the series they do not follow the books at all. That kind of thing really ticks me off.
The first two seasons follow the first two books. Kind of. Enough that you can recognize the characters. But the third season (which I am just now watching since I don’t have cable) is nothing like the book. At all. And I can’t speak to the accents, as I live in the midwest, but I think that if I were more familiar with them and knew that they were bad, it would take me right out of the show.
I won’t watch “Water for Elephants” because I loved the book and don’t want to chance it. Same with “Eat Pray Love.” I hope “The Help” is good, because I liked the book and am slowly falling into lust with Emma Stone.
“Time Traveler’s Wife” is one of my all-time favorite books, even though I’ve always tried to chronologically map out the time travel and I’ve never been able to. Anyway, I very cautiously watched the movie and I loved it. Sure, it wasn’t exact to the book, but I loved what they did with it.
Ah, really? I liked both “The Time Traveler’s Wife” as a movie and a book. I am a bit worried about “The Help” as well, though, since the book was so great.
I didn’t know “Fever Pitch” was based on a book, but it’s one of the only Drew Barrymore movies that I don’t really like.
Agree that the film version of the The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe did justice to the one of my favorite childhood books. Caspian and Dawn Treader….not so much.
I am a HUGE Harry Potter nut, and for the most part I’ve loved the movies for what they are. Not extremely faithful to the books, but I think they communicate the overall message (IMO).
I recently read the Hunger Games and the movie is either going to be EPIC or suck real hard. I’m excited about the casting, so fingers crossed.
I, too, am hesitant about Water for Elephants and The Help.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Even is a wonderful book (and it’s a true story!), but the movie was horrible. I think it was so bad it went straight to DVD.
This is gonna sound totally juvenile and immature but the movie “Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging” was complete crap. Based on the book “Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging,” it combined like the first 3 books in an 8 part series. Everything was so Americanized, like they dumbed it down for us. They cut out characters, made some characters way more important than in the books. I was very displeased.
I know that I’m a grown woman, but I started reading the books in high school and had to finish out the series when each book was released. Its not my fault the movie wasn’t released until I was 21.
DUDE. I read those books as an adult.
And saw the movie.
Loved the books; hated the movie.
I have been disappointed by so many movies that were books that I have learned to view the movie as an extension of the book rather than a replacement. It’s nice to have a distinct picture of characters when you read (or re-read) a book.
Oh that note, it can still be very annoying when a movie totally destroys a book. Like The Golden Compass and Eragon. Eragon was COMPLETELY destroyed. So destroyed that even if they wanted to make the other 3 into movies, they couldn’t because they completely changed the entire storyline. But some of my favorite are Jurassic Park, Fight Club, To Kill A Mockingbird, and the original Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
I’m pretty sure the ABC 20/20 episode based on THE HELP is going to be effing AMAZING!
Well, OBVIOUSLY.
Lovely bones by Alice Seabold. The book was beautiful and devastating, but the movie focus WAY too much on the ‘inbetween’ place.
I was waiting for someone to mention this movie. It was absolutely horrible while the book was wonderful.
mo
I haven’t seen the movie…because I heard it was awful. I SOOOO loved the book.
Chocolat. I know I saw the movie WAY too soon after reading the book, and I do love Johnny Depp, but he was SO wrong for that part. I hated it.
I agree that Water for Elephants was actually a pretty good translation, but because of the way the book is written I don’t feel like the movie had (or could have managed to have) the surprise element at the ending that the book did.
As for good translations, this may make me a total dork, but Jurassic Park was such a good translation. It’s one of my favorite books, I’ve read it about 10 times, and the casting was brilliant.
I didn’t even know that Chocolat was based on a book!
also, YES to Jurassic Park. The book and the movie were fantastic, I thought.
It’s by Joanne Harris, and after reading it she became one of my favorite authors. I would highly recommend it!
I actually enjoyed The Time Traveler’s Wife – but that might be just because I was SO in love with the book.
In general, I am anti movie made from books – more often than not I am very disappointed (for some reason the movie studios don’t have the same imagination I do!)
[And since my kids are super distracting right now, I have to come back to this later! Grr]
The Other Boleyn Girl. Love, love, LOVE the book. I re-read it all the time. I saw the movie and wanted to punch someone in the face. I get why they have to leave some stuff out (time and tall that) but why do they change stuff?! I was so annoyed. I was also 40+ weeks pregnant but I think I would have been annoyed anyway. hehe My husband said he thought it was a pretty good movie and I told him”that’s because you haven’t read the book!”
Oh, and I totally agree with you on the Time Traveler’s Wife.
I had no idea they were making a movi about The Help. I’m kinda nervous now. :/
Oh! I totally forgot about The Other Boleyn Girl until you mentioned it. The book was so amazing, and the movie sucked so bad. SO BAD. Now I’m angry all over again!
There’s a movie with Jennifer Aniston called Derailed. When I read the novel several years ago, I thought it was one of the BEST suspenseful thrillers I had EVER read, and I read a lot.
When I heard they turned it into a movie, I was thrilled, but bad casting and bad editing out of the original story (which, i know, is necessary for time) just killed the suspense of the story.
It became a shell of what it once was.
The Color Purple still holds up as my favorite book to movie adaptation ever. Close 2nd is To Kill a Mockingbird.
I almost never think the movie lives up to the book but I have to admit that I loved the movie version on The Devil Wears Prada a million times more than the book! Same for The Notebook…but I’m sure a wet and angsty Ryan Gosling is responsible for most of that.
Tameka, The Color Purple was done really well as a movie. I was worried about the musical version, but it was the BEST musical/play I have ever seen.
I really think Stephen King’s ‘Misery’ was one of the best on screen adaptations I have ever seen. I loved the book, and I was not let down much if at all with the movie.
ADVICE PLEASE: I have not read The Help yet because I work full time and go to college full time so I do not read for pleasure during semester (or I would fail all of my classes because I LOVE to read). I JUST finished my finals and was getting ready to pick it up, but now I am not sure if I should wait until after the movie comes out so I dont hate the movie… thoughts?!
Read the book first! If you see the movie first, it will taint your reading with images that a director chose for you.
No movies ever live up to books, in my opinion. Some of them are…fine….but not great. Maybe, MAYBE, Bridget Jones being the exception. I loved both.
I loved The Help so much, I was sad when I finished it. Movies are almost never as good as the books on which they’re based, but I am intrigued with this one.
I totally agree with you about Time Traveller’s Wife. I think that was one of the best books I’ve ever read because of its originality, but the movie didn’t even hold my interest.
I haven’t read Water for Elephants (even though it comes highly recommended) because I can’t handle stories where sad things happen to animals. So the movie is out as well.
i agree with you, love in the time of cholera (highly recommended) is beautiful from beginning to end, i guess it was very difficult to translate all that into a movie.
i loved Bridget Jone’s diary (both books), they’re soooo funny, but the movie was… a cheap comedy? i cry of shame
another… Harry Potter, all of them are great books and i think my imagination is far better than the movies
So many wonderful books and not-so-wonderful movie adaptations! I won’t even touch the ‘It’ thing, that evil clown Pennywise gave me nightmares and a fear of stormdrains, to this day I will not walk over one for fear that freaking clown will pull me down ‘were they all float!’ FML
John Irving, A Prayer For Owen Meany one of the most incredible novels I ever read. The story of Owen’s faith is remarkable and then Simon Birch? Oy vey, was that an awful movie.
The Cider House Rules on the other hand, so great. Irving wrote the screenplay and had to choose what to keep, his novels are sooo long, and I thought it was fantastic! Won the Oscar that year, too!
The World According to Garp film version is kind of ridiculous, but I guess so is the book? I’m torn on this one, any movie with a tarnsgendered football player’s got to be good right?
The Door in the Floor, which is the first third of A Widow For One Year was pretty darn good. Kim Basinger as the grief stricken mother and Jeff Bridges?! Holy Jeff Bridges. Anyway, pretty good in my opinion.
I’m a John Irving fan girl.
I didn’t realize “Fever Pitch” was a book! It is a movie that’s close to my heart because it was about my RedSox and the year they won the World Series…but I’ll say, I loved it.
I didn’t see a lot of the rest of the movies you mentioned, but your assessment of The DaVinci Code was dead on other than the fact that I also found his sport coat horrifying.
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