Etienne's role

I finished the book two days ago and watched the movie yesterday. Incomparable in quality.

What bothered me most, though, was the passively annoying "actor" "Renaud". He seemed very uncomfortable in his role, almost as if he was forced to participate in the movie. His acting can be summed by two expressions: "popping eyes out" and "lowering eyes". Etienne's role was central and crucial for the course of events but this poor performance let it get overshadowed by almost everyone else's. It was the key factor in determining the fate of the picture.

The film follows the book pretty closely, although letting out some significant scenes (especially ridiculing the delegation through the dining room's keyhole), but considering it's length (2h 30min), this time would be better spent reading the next Zola's book.