Cast: Rachel McAdams (Clare Abshire), Eric Bana (Henry DeTamble)
For complete info, see IMDb's The Time Traveler's Wife page.
I loved the book, so I had to see the movie even though I didn't expect it to be very well done. I was pleasantly surprised. They did a great job with The Time Traveler's Wife adaptation. A few story lines were completely eliminated, but that's to be expected any time a book is made into a movie. I don't think anything major was changed and the changes they made seemed to work well for the movie. I missed some of the plot lines, but I understand why they had to be cut due to time constraints.
The special effects were done a lot better than I'd expected. The disappearing and reappearing happened a lot more slowly than I'd imagined it and it looked really neat in HD. I definitely recommend renting this in Blu-ray if you have it.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2009, adaptation, book, drama, family, fantasy, movie, romance, sci-fi
Reviewed by Kat at the 9:45 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Abigail Breslin (Andromeda 'Anna' Fitzgerald), Sofia Vassilieva (Kate Fitzgerald), Cameron Diaz (Sara Fitzgerald), Jason Patric (Brian Fitzgerald), Evan Ellingson (Jesse Fitzgerald), Alec Baldwin (Campbell Alexander), Joan Cusack (Judge De Salvo)
For complete info see IMDb's My Sister's Keeper page.
If I hadn't read the book, I probably would have enjoyed the movie a lot more. Don't get me wrong - the movie is very moving and still worth seeing. I think they did a wonderful job with the cast and addressing most of the issues in the book. Like all good books that become movies, a lot of the story from the book is missing in the movie version of My Sister's Keeper. Some of that is barely missed. I think they did a great job with the movie (overall) until near the end of the story when they totally butchered the ending.
Since I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone (whether you have or haven't read the book), I'll simply say this. The ending is drastically different in the movie and doesn't have even close to the same powerful impact as the ending in Jodi Picoult's book.
If you're interested in the story and love to read, pick up a copy of My Sister's Keeper. The movie is decent, but not as good as the book. Definitely worth renting from Netflix.
Grade: B
Labels: 2009, Abigail Breslin, Alec Baldwin, book, Cameron Diaz, drama, Jason Patric, Joan Cusack, movie, tear jerker
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Owen Wilson (John Grogan) & Jennifer Aniston (Jennifer Grogan)
For complete cast, see IMDb's Marley & Me page.
I read the book Marley & Me before seeing the movie, since I tend to prefer the books to movies. I think they did a good job selecting what to keep and what to cut out of the movie of Marley & Me. Clearly, not everything from the book could make the cut, but I think they did a very good job with the story. I was a bit surprised that they made John someone who hadn't had a dog before, but I can understand cutting out the sad opening of the book. I don't think that would work as well in the movie - especially the way it was marketed for the holidays.
If you enjoyed the book and are willing to accept that changes have to be made when making a movie, I think you'll like the movie. If you haven't read the book, Marley & Me is definitely a good heartwarming movie and well worth renting.
Grade: B
Labels: 2008, animals, book, comedy, drama, family, Jennifer Aniston, movie, Owen Wilson, romance
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:30 PM show | 0 screams