MovieChat Forums > The Memory Keeper's Daughter (2008) Discussion > Disappointed!!!! *SPOILERS*

Disappointed!!!! SPOILERS

posted 16 years ago by suz8600
21 replies | jump to latest

Oh, Gosh, was I disappointed when this movie aired. I didn't have time to see the first showing, but I saw the last one at midnight and I was glad I was by myself when watching it because I was so angry. . .

Okay, the movie was short version of the entire book. The SHORT VERSION! They needed to make this movie into a mini-series because it had so much MORE to say they left out. And they also left out a lot of characters like Norah's sister, who I thought had a significant role in the book. I guess the director or whoever turned the book into a movie did not.

Some characters that SHOULD have been in the film:

Bree - Norah's younger sister
Doro - Caroline's landlord/boss
Rosemary and Jack - the young mother and her son who David took in

They also combined a lot of the scenes together. Like when David and Paul are arguing in the truck and Paul jumps out and starts running. Well, that doesn't happen in the book. In the book, their fishing trip was cancelled, and so Paul decides to go run along the beach (because that was his favorite thing to do back then was run) and that's when he sees his mother's clothes on the beach, and he goes back to the cottage where his dad was, and doesn't speak to him, and so David decides to go look for his wife, Norah, because she wasn't home when they arrived, and he, too, sees the clothes on the beach, knowing his wife was with that guy they met.

Also, I really didn't like the scenes where David is following Pheobe. That didn't happen in the book. Yes, he stayed behind in Pittsburg to see if he could catch a glimpse of her, but he doesn't go taking pictures of her and following her. I thought that was really awful. They made him turn out to be a stalker which I didn't like.

Some of the dialogue was messed around when he and Caroline meet again after so many years in the broom closet.

Paul didn't have his little concert in front of the crowd as an adult. He was only thirteen, and Caroline, Al, and Pheobe didn't attend. It was David and Norah who did.

And when Norah says she wants to have another child. Paul is only a year old in the book, and they weren't in bed when she confessed this. And she never asked him if he was having an affair. And that Kay woman, who was married and happy with children, never came onto David in his darkroom. I didn't like that, either. :(

And Paul didn't trash his father's darkroom, his older friends did after young Paul tried some weed.

OH! and David didn't die under the sink. He died while jogging. . . :(

Lastly, the ending was just horrible. Caroline Gil was the one who found out David Henry was dead, so she goes and decides to tell Norah, after sometime, that her daughter didn't die. And she says her home is open to Norah and Paul whenever they want to come and meet Pheobe. That's also when Norah goes and searches in David's darkroom for any proof that their daughter did not die, and Paul is not with her when she burns all the photos. ......In the book, Norah is getting remarried and the book ends with Paul and Pheobe standing over David Henry's grave. Very moving scene. IN THE BOOK! And Norah forgave David for what he did. She ultimately did.

Everything just happened sooooooo quick! And I know it has to be hard to crunch a great 400 page book into two hours, but come on!! Why mess around with this one? And why make it so short, and a lot unexplained? My mother liked it only because she didn't read the book.

They cast the characters great, but the movie could have been so much more. And I'm sorry, but I can't open my eyes any bigger to see good in the film when the book outshined by a zillion!!!

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[–] Loves_to_read 16 years ago

I have to agree with you about the movie being a mess. I haven't read the book, but it sounds like it might be a bit more logical. When Norah told David she wanted another child, why didn't he just get a vasectomy and not tell her if he thought there was a chance that the new baby would have Down's Syndrome. Sheesh! He was a doctor and should have been able to figure that one out on his own. In the book did this happen or did he just not have sex with his wife ever again?

Penny

[–] Erinlizbeth 16 years ago

About his following Phoebe all around and watching her. He gave her up as a baby so as if he'd know who she was!! There are lots of downs kids , especially in a big populated place that you need a subway or whatever. They all pretty much look a like anyway. Regardless, how would he know that was his daughter he gave up as a baby.

[–] caARACER 16 years ago

That's one of the reasons there were pictures of many different girls. Until the private investigator got him the address he wasn't sure what Phoebe looked like.

But I, too, was disappointed in the movie.

[–] dizzyDivya 16 years ago

but you forgot that caroline kept sending the pictures of his daughter to him... as she was growing up... so he knew what she looked like...

[–] Erinlizbeth 16 years ago

I did forget about that. I now remember he has bundles of pictures and could be why he could point Phoebe out from the others. What I don't understand is why she'd send him the pictures? especially since assuming he never asked.

[–] artemis1644 16 years ago

Also, remember he called the private investigator to get Caroline's address so that first glimpse was probably Phoebe coming out of house where he knew Caroline lived.

[–] suz8600 16 years ago

Like I said, in the book Norah wanted to have another baby almost instantly when Paul was barely over a year old. The author doesn't go in great detail about their sex life other than the fact they had one, and whenever they did make love Norah always felt David was distant from her, even in the act. It was correct in both versions though about David not wanting to have another baby right away. And yes, it was because he was worried about having another down baby.

I don't know why David didn't take care of himself if he didn't want to have anymore children at all. I think basically from the point on of him admitting he didn't want anymore children (at the moment) put an even bigger wedge between them, and from that point on they really became more and more distant. And that's really sad.

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[–] Erinlizbeth 16 years ago

Yeah and especially after 6 years. There was a part in the movie that he didn't want to have sex and was afraid of having another baby, thinking something would be wrong with it. That was when Nora said something about it had been 6 years and he never touched her. So I wonder , are we to assume they didn't have sex for 6 years (at that point) and that is why she had affairs without hestiation?

[–] suz8600 16 years ago

In the book, it isn't that long between Norah wanting to have another baby. It's actually only a year that had gone by. Also, in the book they are little snippet scenes where Norah was sad that David never looked at her, or touched her the way lovers do.

There's a scene on their second year anniversary that Norah complains about this to David. She's also a bit tipsy, and they have a minor argument, and then the author leaves you to believe after they fight, David says he's sorry, and there's a love scene. But that's all the author leaves up to the reader to believe.

So, in the beginning after their twins were born, and David sent Phoebe away, he isn't cold towards Norah as much as the years pass. As they do, they become more distant. He hardly touches her, etc...which drives Norah to cheat.

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[–] liljbean33 16 years ago

So I entered the film about halfway through, when David's having his exhibition and Caroline stops him.

That's when I immediately noticed that they weren't going to even attempt to put Rosemary into the film! She was one of my favorite characters in the book, I loved how she was introduced and how strong-headed she was. I guess they had to cut out that subplot for budget/time restraints, but it really is a shame.

But I didn't even realize that they took Doro out! What'd they use to explain how Caroline got by after leaving the clinic? I'm also assuming that they won't have Caroline and Al's wedding, I'm pretty sure Phoebe and Paul became quick friends during that.

Ahhh, whatever. But I guess a part of me wishes they hadn't made the movie at all, it sure does sound like a good film, but I don't quite think it turned out so.

[–] HotforSayid 16 years ago

In the book, Phoebe and Paul don't become fast friends at Caroline and Al's wedding- it was at Nora and Frederick's wedding.

[–] liljbean33 16 years ago

Ahh, that's right! Because don't Caroline and Al get married on the day that Doro leaves with her lover?

[–] suz8600 16 years ago

They don't explain at all how Caroline survived after leaving Lexington. She and Al first meet, then she sells all her furniture, and moves away and then it's been about six years later and it shows Caroline at the parent meeting with the board of education and then they cut straight to Al living with Caroline and Phoebe. See, I thought they were already married because they don't give any other clues if they were or not. And then later in the movie Caroline and Al announce to Pheobe they are going to get married even though Pheobe has been calling Al 'daddy' since the beginning. They cut Caroline and Al's story really short, and that's sad. I enjoyed reading their love story in the book.

And to add to your Rosemary argument. She didn't even come into the story until after David's show. Remember? He stayed in Pittsburg for a few more days, visits his old house (WHICH THEY DIDN'T SHOW---best part of the book!) and finds Rosemary living there. That's when he takes her back home with him in Lexington. . .

They missed a whole bunch of great scenes in the book.

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[–] Loves_to_read 16 years ago

I just figured that Caroline moved in with Al right after she left town. He had given her his phone number, so I thought when she got back to her house, she called him to make arrangements for a place to live. I suppose if she had gone back to nursng, David would have been able to find her more easily. As for knowing which girl with Down's Syndrome was his daughter, all he had to do is tell the detective Caroline's name and she could be located. Once he found the house, he could follow Phoebe from there and take pictures.
Just my thoughts on a movie that left much up the story line up to assumption.
Penny

[–] Pandjy 16 years ago

Please don't get mad .... I enjoyed the movie more than the book for most of the reasons you stated you hated it. I found the book to be so heart wrenching - it was a killer for me to read. I was hysterical through out the book so I guess what I am trying to say is that the watered down version was easier for me to handle. I cried for an hour after I finished the book - not tears - but a big old fashioned ugly cry. I did miss Doro in the movie I think she was an intrical part of Caroline's life.

With the choice to be what ever you want-why would you choose an a$$ hole?

[–] suz8600 16 years ago

Don't worry, I'm not mad. It's your opinion. :)

To me, I thought the movie was like a flash of pictures. Like, a brief summary of the book but played out by actors. It all happened too quick. So much unexplained.

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[–] Pandjy 16 years ago

I'm not mad. It's your opinion. :)

LOL! Thanks. I also get the flash of pictures analogy. I was able to handle the snipits easier than the whole thing. That book just made me cry for everyone in it.

With the choice to be what ever you want-why would you choose an a$$ hole?

[–] suz8600 16 years ago

The Memory Keeper's Daughter was the first book I've read where I cried my hardest, and after I finished cried for several more hours. Some of it was really unsettling and tender and just so extremely depressing. Like when David died....I didn't know that was the end of his POVs!!! It was as if someone stabbed me in the heart when I read of his death, and the very last chapter. Soooooo sad!

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[–] chiluvr1228 9 years ago

Saw this years ago and then rented from Netflix and watched it again tonight. I thought it odd that Caroline and Al were living together without being married. That just wasn't down back then.

Love this movie and so did my family.

[–] SayNoToRemakes 9 years ago

We called it "shacking up" back then. I was trying to figure out what time frame they were trying to emulate, and by the clothes and haircuts it looks like they got married around 1972 or so. Living together was done then and was becoming more popular over the 1970s. I shacked up with my husband in 1977 before we got married, but I didn't tell my parents.

[–] mojo2004 8 years ago

Saw this years ago and then rented from Netflix and watched it again tonight. I thought it odd that Caroline and Al were living together without being married. That just wasn't down back then.

People have lived together without the benefit of marriage as long as females have been getting pregnant without benefit of marriage which is forever. There are just times in history when it wasn't proper to let everyone know because it was considered scandalous. It was certainly done during the timeframe of this film.

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