I absolutely love this film. The story was great and so was the acting. I was wondering if anyone read the book? I heard they completely changed the book and film's ending. What happened in the book?
shareIn the book, the "circle" was much larger. While Benny was willing to be friends with Jack, she wasn't in love with him anymore, and it's even implied that she might start seeing someone else.
shareYou really should read the book -- it is wonderful. There are a lot of differences, such as Nan. In the book, the girls didn't meet her until they went to school in Dublin. I was very impressed with the movie version, although I love the book. The book goes into so much more detail as to the different characters. You see more of when the girls are children and how they ended up the way they are. One thing they didn't put in the movie is why Eve was so strange towards the Westwards, which they didn't need in the movie, but it's a BIG part of the book. You should definitely get a copy!
shareWow...I never thought anyone would've replied to this post. Thank you guys. I definetly am going to read the novel.
The Hardest thing in this World is to Live in it
1.) Nan & Jack's affair lasts longer than the 1 time, which made him believe more easily that Nan was carrying his child.
2.) The author, Maeve Binchy doesn't have Benny and Jack get back together, partly because of his betrayal, but there's a STRONG hint that it could never work because Jack is too attractive to go out with Benny. (This is the theme of many of Ms. Binchy's novels: two characters from different backgounds/classes fall for each other, but realize it can't work because they are to different.) I don't believe the Benny of the novel would have forgiven Jack and taken him back, and I don't believe she would have slept with him.
3.) The other thing that bothers me is Benny is described as being very big and overweight, which Minnie Driver, though no rail IS NOT.
I actually you don't have to be so giant to be overweight. Also, European and American ideas of overweight are different so it would be difficult to judge. Minnie Driver has slimed down incredibly. She is a rail now but then she was the biggest girl in the film. To me Benny will always be Minnie Driver.
shareShe actaully had to gain a lot of weight for that role. She made Golden Eye that same year and was much thinner. Ala Renee in Bridget Jones.
"For relaxing times, make it Suntory time."
It also seemed like Minnie was wearing either more more layers of clothing or looser clothing than the other girls in the movie, presumably to make her seem larger than she was.
shareWell, I don't believe that Binchy didn't end up Jack and Benny together because she was fat for him. Benny realised that even though Jack loves her, other girls still will be interested in him, and he might return one of those one day. When Benny saw Jack's mother, all dressed up so early in the morning for her husband, she saw her future. And she knew she deserves more. But I gotta say, I wish, just in one of Binchy's books, we see that the ugly/fat-but-beautiful-in-the-inside girl gets the handsome boy. For granted. Just for once!
shareBenny was a sponge ready to learn everthing she could at University. Especially the things she was forbidden to even think about by her parents and the Catholic Church. One of the reasons that I think Maeve Binchy didn't have them get back together was that she wanted the message to be there are more important things for a woman to do than just take care of a handsome man. If Benny would have married Jack, it would have been all about HIM. She wanted to do a lot with her life. Another thing is that in the book she says he broke her heart. She is too smart to fall for that again! And who says the boy she may be interested in at the end isn't attractive? He's just not the most attractive one. I think Maeve Binchy's books aren't just about getting the handsome guy. They are about getting rid of the extremely handsome guy who is an @#!hole and getting a handsome guy who treats you with kindness and respect!
shareI think the point was that no matter how skinny Benny could have gotten, Jack never would have been enough for her. She had lost some weight in the book, just to make him happy, yet he still had an affair with Nan. And while Nan was extremely beautiful and charming (really irresistable),Jack still pined for Benny. Benny deserved better, and it was implied at the end of the book she had found someone like that. In my opinion, it has nothing to do with having the handsome guy, but the guy who will make you happy, and is right for you.
shareI haven't read the book, but one thing I did notice is that in the end of the movie she is skinnier than she is in the beginning. She looks more like the minnie of today in the last scene in her father's shop when he professes his love for her.
I'm actually thinking I may read the novel. I did expect that it would centre on their "circle" much more than the film did - concentrating on 3 girlfriends really is a trio rather than circle.
I know what you mean about "just for once," but I think it's a better tale if the ugly/fat girl realizes self-worth has nothing to do with asthetics. I adore Jack's character, but for all of his beauty and good intentions, he willfully broke her heart. He showed his true colors, and they were not so beautiful as his face. I like that Benny doesn't end up with him in the book: she was meant for better...maybe not more beautiful, but better!
"So come... I Dare you... Turn the page..."
Here's how I see it...
In the book, Benny and Jack do not end up together. In the movie they do. In the book, Jack was unfaithful to Benny multiple times, with 2 different people (that we know of) -- once with some nameless girl he met on a rugby trip and Nan multiple times. This is definitely beyond one random screwup, it's almost approaching a habit. Benny knew this and as others have said before, there were major differences between them, upbringing, personality conflicts, conflict of interests. There was no way it would have worked with the two of them.
In the movie, things are presented differently. There was only the one time Jack was with Nan and he clearly felt awful about it...just look at the expression on his face right after they've had sex. Also, Benny and Jack seem to have a closer relationship in the movie, not just the College Pretty Boy falling for the Sweet Chubby Girl. They had a more open and honest relationship and they were friends as well as boyfriend/girlfriend. Being that Jack was unfaithful only one time (and only then because he was really strongly pursued by Nan) and that otherwise their relationship was very solid, it was much easier for Benny to give him another chance and hence, for them to end up together.
The book was more of a coming-of-age tale and the movie was slanted more towards romance.
Also, Benny and Jack seem to have a closer relationship in the movie, not just the College Pretty Boy falling for the Sweet Chubby Girl. They had a more open and honest relationship and they were friends as well as boyfriend/girlfriend.
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