Good Movie But...

Strong female cast. Funny in some parts. I saw it again yesterday but did not remember anything from the first time I did. In other words unremarkable when I saw it for the first time. Read one of the books it was based four days ago.

But... The only things in common with the book was the Grafalk company, the PI character, the fight with the two mob members, and a few characters like the physician, Sal, the reporter, the police lieutenant, the mob guy and his henchmen, and the union leader. And a girl in trouble that in the book she runs away. In the movie the girl in trouble is in-your-face.

The police lieutenant was badly portrayed or brought to life.

In the book the Grafalk company was a big company with several ships that carried grain. In the movie it was a company with two tugs. Badly interpreted...

In the book, Boom-Boom is her cousin. In the movie it is her friend. In the book the girl in trouble is another person's daughter. In the movie she is her friend's daughter.

And her car. A green clunker like in the book.

In another thread an OP criticizes the way the female lead character is portrayed in a fist-to-fist fight against a mobster's henchmen. But this is a central part of Paretsky's work. V.I. Warshawsky is against all expectations, what you would see in a woman. Keep in mind this was written in the 80's where the expectation for women was to be a housekeeper, stay-at-home mom, submissive to men. The character of Paretsky's is that Warshawsky is partly successful since no one would believe a woman could be a detective, and be a strong lead. The movie stays true to this depiction.