Have you ever seen a movie that was so good....

[S-Des]

....that you didn't want to read the book afterwards? If it was (as most books are) better than the movie, it would somehow lessen what is such a fond memory. If it didn't live up to the strong performances, it would be a letdown.

I was just about to turn in for the night when I saw that The Client was about to start. It's a movie that has such an amazing cast and strong performances, that it seems impossible the experience of watching it could be exceeded. Susan Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones, Mary Louis Parker, Anthony LaPaglia, Anthony Edwards, Brad Renfro, Bradly Whitford, William H Macy, JT Walsh, etc.... Good lord, I'm leaving out very strong actors who play minor roles.

The movie is incredibly suspenseful and has a unique balance between good (Sarandon), quasi-good (Jones), and evil (LaPaglia). It touches on loss and redemption (with Sarandon's checkered past and desire to make up for it by protecting the boy). It shows an incredibly strong, resourceful female character who manages to overshadow Jones, who is possibly the best actor of his era. Oh well, there goes my night's sleep.

Any that you love too much to risk reading the book it was based on?

 

[impressive]

I've never been disappointed when going back to read the book, though. The converse is far from true.

 

[S-Des]

I've never been disappointed when going back to read the book, though. The converse is far from true.

I'll never forget seeing Alien after reading the book. I was completely let down. I know that's the typical situation, but there have to be some movies that are even better than the book....right?

 

[impressive]

I'll never forget seeing Alien after reading the book. I was completely let down. I know that's the typical situation, but there have to be some movies that are even better than the book....right?

Better? Dunno. I've seen some that haven't disappointed me (The Dead Zone, LotR, The Stand mini-series, Dune mini-series, The Color Purple, etc.), but none that I'd classify as "better."

 

[rgraham666]

Try Jaws.

The movie is one of the scariest of all time.

The book was fit only to line the bottom of a hamster cage.

 

[impressive]

Try Jaws.

The movie is one of the scariest of all time.

The book was fit only to line the bottom of a hamster cage.

Eh. The scary scenes were indeed scary ... but the rest of the movie was totally forgettable. In fact, I've totally forgotten it.

 

[S-Des]

Try Jaws.

The movie is one of the scariest of all time.

The book was fit only to line the bottom of a hamster cage.

BWAH-HA-HA-HA Thanks for the laugh. That movie was amazing. My older sister told me she hasn't gone swimming in open water once since seeing it.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Picnic at Hanging Rock is a pretty good movie, and I've been told the novel it was based on sucks ass on previously unimaginable levels.

 

[rgraham666]

So far as I know, my favourite movie never was a book.

Paths of Glory Is a movie I've only watched once. It was so good, bought out such strong emotions in me, I couldn't bear to watch it again.

Even just the memory of it has me bleary eyed.

 

[Guest]

The Silence of the Lambs is a far better movie than book.

When I read it (after seeing the movie) I was wishing I had my red pen to edit.

I took a film class as an undergrad. Once of the things the professor said was that excellent, truly classic books usually don't translate into great movies.

Because what else is there to do? It has already been explored in print, where else can the movie go?

He said filmmakers look for those books with potential to become great.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

So far as I know, my favourite movie never was a book.

Paths of Glory Is a movie I've only watched once. It was so good, bought out such strong emotions in me, I couldn't bear to watch it again.

Even just the memory of it has me bleary eyed.

Do you realise that if you click the link in your post, it takes you to a page that says "Writers: Humphrey Cobb (novel)"?

 

[Guest]

Do you realise that if you click the link in your post, it takes you to a page that says "Writers: Humphrey Cobb (novel)"?

It's a Scavenger hunt. Get to work!

 

[rgraham666]

Do you realise that if you click the link in your post, it takes you to a page that says "Writers: Humphrey Cobb (novel)"?

I do know.

Shrugs. If I knew everything I'd be God. And then I certainly wouldn't be hanging around this sill planet now, would I?

 

[carsonshepherd]

Don't read The Client . Like most books by the author, it's disappointing.

 

[impressive]

Don't read The Client . Like most books by the author, it's disappointing.

He writes now with the movie in mind. You can tell.

 

[cloudy]

The DaVinci Code was a much better movie than book.

 

[carsonshepherd]

He writes now with the movie in mind. You can tell.

And before he got a movie deal, he just sucked.

 

[Morrigu]

Chocolat for me, although her writing is excellent, the film just blew me away!

 

[Boota]

I really enjoyed Forrest Gump, so I read the book and it sucked. It was so far away from the movie that it was hard to believe the screenwriter even read the book. Whoever that was, they saved it, in my opinion.

 

[bluebell]

Don't read The Client. Like most books by the author, it's disappointing.

I agree. That movie kicked ass and I almost slipped into a coma while reading the book.

I think most of the rest of Grisham's books are just kinda "whatever". But there are a few that I really liked and still do.
The Pelican Brief is still on my list of excellent reads, and because of that I refuse to watch the movie. I also still like The Rainmaker and The Testament. Maybe The Firm. As for the rest, ppphhhhhhtttt!

Beyond that, the first thing that springs to mind are comics. I never like comics as much as I like their movie form. I've tried looking through some Marvel Comics, and even the Frank Miller Sin City ones, and was not nearly as captivated as when I watch a film.

I do wonder about the books Stanley Kubrick based some of his movies on.
I kind of can't imagine liking the books better.

 

[Dar~]

The movie Practical Magic was so much better than the book. If I like a movie I am usually so excited to read the book. I have no idea where the movie came from. It is so far and away different in plot and direction than the book...and I like the movie better.

On the flip side, the movie First Wives Club left me wanting...In the book it is so much better. I actually told my husband to read the book b/c he hated the movie so much b/c of all the man hating. The book (Olivia Goldsmith) Rocks!

 

[Joe Wordsworth]

Don't read The Client . Like most books by the author, it's disappointing.

I have to disagree... I saw the movie and read the book and I have to say that the book is really strong.

I liked the book better.

Of course, and this should be noted, I live /in/ Mississippi. Specifically in Oxford (Clanton is greatly based on Oxford) and all the very southern-esque references and tones really resonated with me. Everyone in that book was someone I knew, it seemed.

I found the book deeply moving.

 

[cloudy]

Both the book and the movie of The Chamber are gripping, and ultimately, very sad.

 

[tickledkitty]

I believe I read The Client first and then saw the movie. I liked them both. I agree that Grisham does write with the movie in mind now. I stopped reading his books a few years ago. The plots and characters in all of them seem too similar after a while.

 

[Joe Wordsworth]

See, I don't so much mind that he writes with "the movie in mind". I still like the stories. His most recent one "The Innocent Man" is fantastic.