MovieChat Forums > Tenderness (2009) Discussion > How do other Cormier fans feel about thi...

How do other Cormier fans feel about this project?

posted 18 years ago by fivedimensionalmanifold
30 replies | jump to latest

Hi everyone,
I'm curious as to the reactions of other Cormier fans to news of this novel being made into a movie. So far, people seem to be fairly excited. I hope that the translation works well. I'm not too familiar with Polson's work but hopefully he remains faithful to the novel. I think it is very cinematic in the first place, as it is kind of built around vignettes and scenery, such as the park where he takes the girl canoeing and so on.

I have been waiting for a film version of After the First Death for years, but apparently it isn't forthcoming. I understand the rights to that book have been optioned a few times, including once just before September 11th, but the projects have pretty much all been abandoned before filming started. But Tenderness is a great novel and suitable for filming also. Hopefully it works well.

[–] blightlk 18 years ago

I'm a huge Cormier fan and I guess all I can say is...fingers crossed. I think it will be a shame if they make the detective the focus of the movie just because Russel Crowe is playing him though. He's important in the book, but it's the kids who deserve the focus.

[–] ThinkingWoman 18 years ago

I believe the kids will remain the focus of the movie as Crowe's part of the shoot took about two weeks. Filming is ongoing long after he's back in Australia. If his image is not on the film stock, it will be hard for him to take over the screen.

The detective in the book seems to be a punctuation mark to the main events - absolutely essential but not the story. The character serves the plot but is not the story himself.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] star_wars_man_326 18 years ago

Honestly I think you Cormier fans are screwed. John Polson hasn't made a decent film yet. Swimfan? Hide and Seek? I don't know if those movies sucked or if he made them suck, but if he doesn't wise up you guys better hope a different director translates one of his his other books. Otherwise I foresee you guys being severly scared. Sorry to be so frank.

"It was then I came from the shadows, not to fight crime, but to spread fear."

[–] fivedimensionalmanifold 18 years ago

I have seen both Swimfan and Hide and Seek and I found them both to be disappointing but not without their moments. I think he has some potential as a director, he knows how to seek out the suspenseful moments that are generated by a sequence of events. He just has a hard time keeping those suspenseful moments from seeming absurd/goofy. Hide and Seek had some good camera work too, I thought.

[–] star_wars_man_326 18 years ago

They may have but when you break it down you have interesting camera shots, a few interesting sespenceful moments, and a bunch of goofy parts. It doesn't look promising.

"It was then I came from the shadows, not to fight crime, but to spread fear."

[–] Ozymandias_formerlyceclily89 18 years ago

The book had a lot more narrative than action or dialogue, but when has that ever stopped moviemakers?

"I'd like to see the herd you and Jake could come up with. Herd of whores, maybe."
-Lonesome Dove

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] fivedimensionalmanifold 18 years ago

I'm thinking very seriously about writing a screenplay adaptation of After the First Death. I think it's been done before and I had an inside source tell me that the novel has been optioned more than once.
But yeah, that could be excellent. It's far enough away from 9/11 now that it would be likely that studios or indie directors might show interest in it too...

[–] sublunary_ 18 years ago

Tenderness is my favorite book of all time, and I will be dissapointed if it is not true to the story. When I google imaged the actors playing Eric and Lori I was a little worried, only because they weren't what I would expect Lori and Eric to look like. The director of this hasn't done good films, yes, but then again, he's not the one writing the screen play! I will keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best!

[–] BarksdaleBaratheon 18 years ago

*beep* two words; CHOCOLATE WAR!!!!! NUFF SAID

[–] turtlemom1 18 years ago

I don't know of a single good film that has been 100% "true" to it's book. It's always wise to remember that films and books are quite different story telling mediums. Film is visual... and a script is only a supporting structure.

We will always have the book, in it's original form. Nothing changes that. So I believe that the film deserves consideration on it's own merits, not how faithfully it parrots the literature which inspired it.

[–] justagurl_182 18 years ago

Now they've made this into a film, they need to make "Other Bells For Us To Ring" into one.

[–] BarksdaleBaratheon 18 years ago

TWO WORDS CHOCOLATE WAR: NUFF SAID

[–] onegilliamfan 17 years ago

If they use the same ending, I'm worried people will compare it to Titanic, even though the book came out earlier. Or worse, I'm worried people will compare it to Hard Candy. *sigh*

[–] PanicPop 17 years ago

Tenderness is the kind of book that would make a compelling movie- From the very first page, I could picture it as a film.

I'm a big fan of Robert Cormier's books, so I can't wait to see this!!!

[–] xxNichix3 17 years ago

i really cant wait. and im excited about it!
But i really hope they dont mess with it..
because its already a masterpiece of its own.

[–] michithecat 17 years ago

i just finished reading the book aand lokked up the movie. i looked up pics of the actors playing lori and eric and neither of them look even slightly as i pictured them.

[–] red893 17 years ago

the fact that they didnt look as though you pictured is completely irrevalant. Everyone has a certain idea of how the characters look. Even with a description of how someone looks in a book is still pretty subjective.

Whenever a book is made into a movie, everyone who read the book first always says "the book was so much better." So of course fans of the book(ive said book too many times) will think the movie is disappointing. But what can you do? lets hope they do it justice.

I wish i had known this was being made into a movie! when i read it i really wanted to play Lori.(i obviously know i wouldnt have been cast but i can dream)

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] hnow 17 years ago

People often write inaccurate plot summaries because they haven't even seen the film. No need to be jumping to conclusions at this time.

[–] fivedimensionalmanifold 17 years ago

Sidewalksg, you said:

"It looks like alot of Cormier fans are going to continue to wait for a good adaptation of one of his novels long after 'Tenderness' ends up on DVD."

I thought that the adaptation of Bumblebee Flies Anyway from a few years back starring a pre-Hobbit Elijah Wood was actually well done. Perhaps a bit too downtempo but well-acted and entertaining in its quiet way. And furthermore I think the upcoming film version of Tenderness looks promising.

[–] velvetleprechaunpimp 17 years ago

I personally feel (this being my favorite book of his) skeptical. I am not saying that not all novels should not be movies, and movies destory books... but Russell Crowe? I don't recall the book ever describing the character he is playing as "handsome" or "fit". If anything, he was not either of those things. He was an older man who had been exhausted and haunted by his job. I realize this is a creative difference that many will not agree with me on, but hey, it happens.
I feel slightly more confident towards the newcomers who play Eric and Lori. The last thing I'd want is Lindsay Lohan and Adam Brody working on this film.

Perhaps I am just a book elitist. Sorry, everyone, but this is the Internet and because of that, I have TMOHS syndrome (THINKING MY OPINION IS HOT $HIT).