well- this was a shocker!! they changed names, ages-not right at all!!! i hate movies like this! THEY CHANGED THE WHOLE ENDING! the book had the best romantic ending EVER!!!!!! but the movie was cheesy. i mean- how could she leave without asking him if he loved her????? i was dissapointed with all the movies
shareI am an avid reader of Janette Oke’s books. I am also probably not the first person who has said something about the movies, either good or bad. I tolerated the first, although there was a lot left out; I know that usually happens in most adaptations. However, with each movie it got worse and worse until I began to watch Love’s Abiding Joy and had to turn it off after 10 minutes, because I was so angry. The only things remotely close to the book at all are the title and the names of the characters, with the exception of the children of Missy and Willie, and Marty’s first husband, Clem. Clark and Marty are practically left out of the 2 – 4th movies, and their other children (Clare (who is misnamed in the first movie), Arnie, Ellie and Luke and the 2 adopted children Nandry and Clae) and Clark’s tragedy, a major crux of the book, doesn’t even surface in the movie.
I own the first 3 titles, but thankfully they were all gifts. Had I purchased them myself, I would demand a full refund. The movies themselves are not bad and had I not read the books, I probably would enjoy them. But the adaptations of the books to movies is horrible and I hope all Janette Oke readers feel strongly enough about the “Love Comes Softly Series” movies to speak up as I did.
YESSS!!! THANK YOU!!!!
shareYeah, i feel the same way, i wish they would have kept to the books as must as possible. when i was reading the books i would pretend to the characters! it was fun! well im 16, and i wish they would have kept it the same as the books.
sharehey hannahgirl92- i am almost 16 and i did the same thing. i would pretend to be a character in those old western times too! my friend mollie even made fried chicken and cleaned the house pretending she was out in the west! the books got boring after Belinda was born though!
shareI agree wholeheartedly!!! I am seeing so many comments about how great these movies are and I only watch them if I really need something to yell at. I have read the entire series (including the four about Victoria, Clark and Marty's grandaughter) at least 5 or 10 times and lvoe them. There are people they kill off who never die during the whole series and people who are never born or who are born to the wrong person (like Belinda, who practically all of 3 books and the sequel series hinge on). These books were so amazingly written that they did not need changing to become great movies, and would have actually been great movies if they had been true to the story. Had they had different names I would have thought "oh, that woman had to marry someone she didn't love and almost left, kinda like Marty" but I would not have made any other connection to the books. It is good to know that I am not the only one noticing this and seriously disappointed by it.
shareDo you mean Virginia? I do not recall a Victoria.
shareJust to clarify, Clark and Marty's granddaughter (Belinda's daughter) is named Virginia, not Victoria. I also agree that the books were so much better than the movies, but I liked the movies too. In fact, I watched them before I read the books and that is what made me read them.
shareI've neither seen the movie nor read the book, but I just have to ask .. did you see a guarantee on the box saying that nothing would be changed from the book. Why would you deserve your money back, just because it didn't meet your expectations? That's ridiculous.
"and Clark’s tragedy, a major crux of the book, doesn’t even surface in the movie."
Actually I just finished reading Love Comes Softly and Love's Enduring Promise and the books barely mention Clark's accident where in the movie (Love's Enduring Promise) it is a major plot line of the movie.
It's been awhile since I read Love Comes Softly, but I do remember that they changed Clem to Aaron and they made Missie 9 instead of 2 years old. What was the full name of Clem and Marty's son in both the book and movie? They were changed right? Also, how did the book end? Any other differences? Thanks :)
shareOh my goodness- the end of the first book was the BEST ending I have ever read. Marty's son - i don't remember his name but her son with her first husband- chokes on a button or something like that so Clark and Marty have to rush him to the doctor in town. He lives but it is too late to go back home so they go to the hotel. Clark is about to leave the hotel because he is going to spend the night at the doctor's, and Marty finally tells him she loves him!! They kiss and hold each other and it is just really romantic. I think I've read the ending more times than the actual book! The movie made me mad because of how they ended it. Marty was NEVER planning to leave!
shareshe names her son after her first husband, doesn't she?
share"Marty finally tells him she loves him!"
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I don't think she actually says it. I think it was supposedly written in her eyes. Though Clark double-checks, asking her if she's sure.
I remember how excited I was when I saw the preview for "Love Comes Softly" in the late fall of 2003. Having read the whole series (my sister owned a few of the books, I checked the rest out from the library, then I bought two of the books for my own "library") I was very excited to see the story brought to the screen. Imagine my shock when Marty's husband was named AARON, Missie was 9 years old (and a big BRAT) and they named the baby Aaron. They also gave Ma Graham a name, and her name was never actually mentioned, she was just called Ma Graham. At least the baby had the MIDDLE name right, but the point of his name being Claridge was so he'd have a part of her original married name - since that was his father's last name. One of the few things they got right in the movie was the dollhouse gift that Missie received for a Christmas present.
And I was even more upset that Clark and Marty's love didn't "spill over" more than once to "make a baby" in Love's Enduring Promise. They had Arnie, Ellie and Luke. Ellie and Luke were completely eliminated, Nandry & Clae as well.
So, yes, I agree with you. I do wonder if the screenwriters were advised at all by the author. I bet not or they wouldn't have made so many mistakes.
edited to add the AND to Nandry AND Clae.
Amen! So happy to see others unimpressed with these movies. I have read this series over and over since I was a teenager (I'm now 36) and was SO disappointed.
shareThe movie I was most disappointed with is Love's Abiding Joy. The latest movie Love's Unending Legacy wasn't all to great either in my opinion. Killing off Willie was the dumbest thing the writers could have come up with and making Belinda Missie's kid was the second dumbest thing. Very disappointing.
"No matter how far away I am you will always be in my heart." Missie LaHaye - LUL
Another mistake in the movie:
Ma Graham says Laura is her daughter, but the book has Laura as BEN GRAHAM's daughter. Sally Anne is Ma's daughter.
Another error they made in the adaptation.
I am SO glad I thought to look this movie up here. I just found Love Comes Softly (dvd) in a book store and planned to go back and buy it, but I wanted to know how similar the movie was to the book. I didn't expect it to be exactly the same...but there appear to be too many changes to suit me. Thanks for saving me untold amounts on buying the entire set!
shareWait a second ... you mean this mess of a movie was actually a book first? That a publisher actually printed? And some ppl actually bought and READ ???
You mean this movie wasn't just a sappy screenplay from the fevered imagination of some lovesick hausfrau from the Midwest who pecked this story out on her Royal typewriter while sitting on her chintz sofa???
The Love Comes Softly books are nothing at all like the movies. Most of the events and the characters have been killed off or totally left out of the movies. The author Janette Oke is an awesome writer. Don't judge the books by the movies.
"Family don't end with blood, boy." Bobby - SPN episode No rest for the wicked
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I don't know about any book but I'd bang Katherine Heigl 'til it fell off.
With your feet in the air and your head on the ground, try this sig with spinach!
If the movie and books have the same title, and the movie is supposed to be based on the book then yes, they should follow the same/similar story lines and themes. Completely changing main characters names/bios and not following the story AT ALL makes it a completely different story...
I was completely dissappointed with this movie... LOVED the book, but I will definatly not be seeing any of the other movies, why waste my time??
I have just seen Love Comes Softly. I have not heard of the book series until now, so I haven't read them. In a perfect world, the movie will follow the book in all the important areas, and usually the book has much more space to tell a more complete story. So the movie omits and changes things.
So, I guess this is like apples and oranges. If you read the book and expected the movie to follow the book, then you could be disappointed.
If you didn't read the book, then you just enjoy this otherwise excellent movie.
Usually, a movie will be better if it follows the book. Screenwriters need to learn this... even Michael Landon Jr.
They do this with all movies. You can't read a book & expect the movie to live up to your expectations because it most likely won't. This has happened with the Harry Potter series, Twilight series, Nicholas Sparks series, etc. I read Dear John and was completely disgusted by the movie. Changed everything except for the names. It is very irritating, but it's something you can't help. Don't compare the movie with the books because you will always be disappointed. I haven't read the Love comes Softly books, but I do understand how aggravating it must be.
shareI loved this movie. Perhaps if I had read the book first, I would have been disappointed but I thought it was a very sweet movie. Katherine Heigl did a fabulous job, especially in the beginning when she was just widowed.
I did wonder why they only had the one child together. Thinking to the times I would have expected people to have a lot of kids.
When I read a book I judge it by what is between the covers. When I watch a movie I judge it by what is on the screen. If you don't like it when the movie is not identical to the book then either stop mwatching movies or reading books. Each is a unique interpretation of a theme and should be judged on its own merits. The same goes for movie remakes.
Personally my wife and I both liked this movie very much and don't care if it was not exactly like the book. It was what it was.
I read the books when I was younger---haven't read them in a while so not everything's fresh in my mind---and while I understand feelings of disappointment at the changes, I still liked the movies for what they were: family-oriented, clean entertainment. Often times when I'm watching a movie and I see that it's based on a book, I get intrigued enough to buy the book.
Truck or Squad. What side are you on?
Considering what passes for entertainment these days, this series is water in the desert; I don't care what has been changed from the books. Anyone who has read "Gone with the Wind" knows that the movie left out two of Scarlett's children and only showed Charles Hamilton at Tara during the barbecue and at his wedding to Scarlett,glossing over the rest of her time with him and omitting her child, Wade Hampton with him. Her child, Ella, with Frank Kennedy, is also omitted. In my mind, those omissions deprive anyone who hasn't read the book of another attractive facet of Rhett Butler: his ability to love and nurture children who were not his own. There is a scene in the book when he is with his own daughter Bonnie and Wade and Ella. He pays flattering attention to the little boy and at the end kisses Bonnie and Ella.
But, it is a great movie just the same.
The comments here about the differences between the books and the movies in the Love series have just made me want to read the books.
I could be a morning person if morning happened at noon.