Adaptations of books to any form of media can be dicey, so I typically go into them with low expectations because they almost always disappoint me. So B. It wasn’t one of those films, though. Based on the novel of the same name by Sarah Weeks, So B. It was a heartfelt family movie that perfectly captured everything I loved about the book.
At the start of the film I was nervous because it didn’t begin the way the book did. The film chose a time jump narrative, in which it begins with Heidi already being in the police station holding her jar of jelly beans (if you didn’t read the book this will make more sense once you do), and then jumps back to fill in the details of how she got there. I wasn’t sure if I would like this but as the movie went on I really enjoyed this form of storytelling, and somehow it made the movie even more emotional for me. I didn’t cry while reading the book, but I definitely cried a few times during the movie.
Overall, I only really had one issue with the film. Unlike in the book ,the film gave a name to Heidi’s mom’s mental illness and I was very confused by it because it just didn’t seem to fit how Heidi’s mom acted and her symptoms. Still, I’m not an expert on mental illnesses so maybe I’m way off base here. Besides that, I can’t think of any other issues I had with the movie. It was very well done, and like I said, the changes were all worth it, and didn’t take away from the story. There was one scene that was cut for the movie that I wish made it in, but I understood for the sake of time why it was cut and the scene I’m thinking of wasn’t really necessary to the story so I’m able to accept that.
Unfortunately, the film is no longer in theaters but keep an eye out for the DVD release. This is a movie I highly recommend seeing. Just make sure you have a tissue box.
Fifty Shades Darker is my favorite book in the Fifty Shades trilogy so I was actually excited to see this film and thankfully it didn’t disappoint. There will be spoilers from the book in this review so proceed with caution.
One of my biggest pet peeves with this trilogy was the short time between when Ana left Christian and when they got back together. In the novels, it was literally only a day however in the film it feels like that separation was longer, which I liked. Ana needed some more backbone and willpower so I liked that the film gave her at least a little ounce more of that.
From there the film dives right back into Ana and Christian’s love story, which I enjoyed way more than the first novel. Christian trying to be a real boyfriend rather than a dominant was cute and endearing and I liked it a lot. I also love that this part of the story dives more into Christian’s past, both with other submissives and with Mrs. Robinson, who I can’t stand and I’m so glad she got what was coming to her.
Of course with any book adaptation the film missed a few keys parts. For one, I didn’t like that they took out Christian’s therapist who I loved. I thought he was pretty funny and added another layer to Christian’s character that I really enjoyed. Also, although Christian does get down on his knees in front of Ana in a submissive stance I think if you didn’t read the books you wouldn’t have known how big of a deal this was. They went through it so fast.
In the books this scene was a major turning point because Christian literally becomes submissive to Ana, which was so huge. That was one of my favorite scenes from the whole trilogy and I was sad they didn’t spend a little more time on it. Besides that though, I think the film did really well with this one and it was definitely much better than the first film. I also liked how this film set up all the craziness that’s going to happen in the last movie. I’m actually excited to see the next one. Shocker!
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[Source: Warner Bros.]I haven’t read the Fantastic Beasts book (neither the handbook version or the screenplay) so this will be a straight forward review, solely based on the film. Going into this movie I was very excited because it’s been a while since I’ve seen a Harry Potter movie in theaters and it was nice to get to do that again.
I saw Fantastic Beasts opening weekend when the film was of course sold out and everyone there were pretty hardcore Harry Potter fans. I’ve always loved going to see these kinds of movies on premiere weekends for this very reason. The atmosphere is just amazing and you don’t get that vibe if you see it in the afternoon on a random Tuesday.
So going into Fantastic Beasts I was very excited and the movie did not disappoint. The cast was absolutely phenomenal. Eddie Redmayne was the perfect Newt. He was cute and kind of awkward and just amazing. Dan Fogler, who played Jacob Kowalski, brought great comedy to the film. Ezra Miller as Credence was just creepy enough that I was weirded out but sympathetic enough that I was still on his side. Collin Farrell, however, made the perfect villain as Graves.
[Source: Warner Bros.]I absolutely loved Alison Sudol as Queenie. She was my favorite character hands down. Her sister, Tina (Katherine Waterston), however, was a bit annoying. I don’t blame Waterston for this though. I think Tina’s personality just irritated me and honestly I’m not exactly sure why. Towards the end she was okay though.
The plot itself was awesome and though I suspected that plot twist at the end I was still a little surprised by it. The action and magical scenes of the film were great as well. I was in awe of Newt’s suitcase and now want to live inside of it. I could’ve done without the bits of romance though. Queenie and Jacob were kind of cute but Newt and Tina’s little flirtation aired closer to the side of cringeworthy instead of awkwardly cute.
[Source: Warner Bros.]Overall though I really did like this movie and will probably end up buying the screenplay because honestly the cover just looks so incredibly gorgeous. Definitely go see the movie if you haven’t already. It’s totally worth at least one watch.
Did you see Fantastic Beasts? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments below!
*Note: There will be spoilers about the book and movie in this review. Read at your own risk*
I went into this film with low expectations because the reviews weren’t great and on average the movie is almost never as good as the book anyway. That being said I didn’t hate The Girl on the Train movie but I definitely didn’t love it either. Here’s my full assessment.
Plot
Source: Amblin Entertainment
First of all, my biggest issue with this film was for some reason the setting was moved from London to New York City. This made no sense to me, especially because Emily Blunt, who plays Rachel, is British. Why change the setting when your main actress is already British? I don’t understand. Besides that the plot pretty much stayed the same. It’s hard to change the plot too drastically of a mystery. There were still changes of course but nothing too major.
Rachel for some reason draws now, which was never in the books. She’s actually a pretty good artist in the film. I don’t know why they felt the need to add this characteristic to Rachel but they did and it seemed like a pointless addition to me. There was also the addition of Martha, the wife of Tom’s former boss. I’m not sure if she was even in the book but she was given a big role in the film because she’s the one that makes Rachel realize everything Tom told her she did while she was drunk was a lie. In the books it was actually Dr. Kamal, the psychologist, that helped Rachel reach this realization.
Speaking of Dr. Kamal, in the film they kind of made it seem like Megan didn’t actually have an affair with him and in the books she did. Yes they ended it but it did very much happen. Still, I didn’t think skimming over this was that big of a deal. It didn’t change the plot that much so it was fine.
What bothered me the most, in terms of things being removed from the plot, was Scott and Rachel having sex. I thought it was so weird in the book and showed a lot about both Scott and Rachel’s character. Also, Scott was much scarier in the book than he was in the film. In the movie he kind of felt a little irrelevant to be honest. In the book I truly suspected Scott but in the movie he just didn’t seem all that bad. Yes he was a bit emotionally abusive in the movie but in the book he was more physically abusivee as well, which made things 10 times worse.
Similarly, although Tom was definitely still shown as the terrible person he is I didn’t like that we didn’t get to see how much Tom played Rachel and Anna. In the book Tom visited Rachel multiple times and even made it look like he regretted his decision to leave her and be with Anna. We got to see him make Rachel feel like he was still in love with her and if Anna wasn’t around they’d still be together. We don’t get that feeling in the movie. Instead it just looks like Tom is just as annoyed with Rachel’s antics as Anna is, which wasn’t the case. Tom enjoyed the attention he got from Rachel and took advantage of it and I felt like that was an important part of the story that you don’t get to see in the film.
Characters
Source: Amble Entertainment
I kind of went into this with Scott already but another character that was very different from their book version was Rachel’s roommate, Cathy. In the movie she is much nicer than she was in the book. Also, Cathy’s boyfriend doesn’t even exist in the movie, which, to be honest, is fine since he didn’t really have that big of a role in the book anyway. I was surprised by how nice Cathy was in the film and I kind of liked the change. I liked Cathy way more in the movie than in the book.
Another character that wasn’t included in the film was Rachel’s mom. On the one hand I don’t think Rachel’s mom was necessary for the film so I think her being absent is okay but in terms of how the book closes the money Rachel receives from her mother helps her move forward whereas in the film Rachel’s future is left a bit ambiguous. Again this isn’t necessarily a bad thing it’s just different.
Emily Blunt did an excellent job of playing Rachel. She was an unlikeable character in the book and remained that way in the film. The same can be said for Haley Bennett who played Megan and Rebecca Ferguson who played Anna. Justin Theroux as Tom was perfect and just as crazy and scary as I imagined him to be.
Overall
I didn’t love this movie and the book was of course better. I’m not sure why but the way the book is formatted with the alternating point of views of Megan, Rachel, and Anna, seemed to work much better on page than on screen. The film did a pretty good job sticking to the book but I just don’t think it translated well on screen. Even if I hadn’t read the book I don’t think I would’ve liked this movie.
Zakiya N. Jamal 