Reviews

SPOILER Who is responsible this film? They ought to be shot. What an amazing opportunity was lost! This book could have made an excellent film. I'm also really disappointed with Dustin Hoffman, who is one of my all-time favorite actors. The beginning wasn't bad, I can even overlook the problems with the Beth situation (the psychosis and the whole once-dated-Norman thing) because it helped to explain things in a limited amount of time. They cut out some characters, which I can also understand. But the movie goes downhill from there. My biggest gripe with the movie is the limiting of "Jerry's" character. In the book, he was a major force and a complex character. Without Jerry, Norman would never have figured it all out. And Jerry is cut down to, what, 3 sentences? There is also a complex plot that was almost completely skipped over in the movie. They covered this up with things that were easier to deal with - namely, screaming. The end of the movie completely missed the mark. Just because it's meant for the masses doesn't mean it needs to be dumbed down. I was very disappointed with the movie. It was confusing and watered down. I would not recommend it to anyone, especially not if they've read the book.