It's not often that a filmmaker stays true to the novel the movie is based on, but this is that rare exception. Blume captures the spirit and emotion of the book perfectly. It's wonderful to see a character-driven film about a teenager coping with the aftershocks of a tragedy without it being melodramatic. I'd love to see more films like this.
shareI am so glad to hear that. This was one of my favorite books that I read several times when I was a pre-teen/teen. I had no idea this was made into a movie until I saw the ad on Lifetime (will air Saturday, Jan. 11 at 7pm CST).
I'm an automatic steeple for depressed and lonely people. ~ Blue October
I don't quite agree. They made one major change that I appreciated, and one that I did not. I'm glad the movie had Wolf come back from his walkabout, or whatever he'd been doing. Blume said on the DVD commentary that she should never have written the novel that way -- why have a major character disappear halfway through and never come back?
Meanwhile, the change I did not appreciate was making Bitsy the mom's sister instead of the dad's. As the dad's sister, she would have been the one person who could really share with Davey about what dad was like. I don't see what was gained by making her the mom's sister.
What I would have like to have seen/heard is a narrative of what she was thinking/feeling at times. It was there in the book, but not in the movie. Because I've read the book, I knew what was going on, but I can see how someone who had not read it would be wondering what was happening -- like when the camera focused on the paper sack at the start. Davey mentions/thinks about it in the book, but you have no idea why it's there until the end of the movie.
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