MovieChat Forums > About a Boy (2002) Discussion > The book is just sooooooo much better...

The book is just sooooooo much better...

posted 10 years ago by CommanderVimes
3 replies | jump to latest

It's been some time I watched the movie, but I just finished the book again and have to express my disgust about what they did to it with the movie.

While the book is funny and smart - naturally, it's Nick Hornby! - the movie is just pretentious and lame.

The worst part is the incredibly sappy ending, which was so embarrassing to watch...

In the book Marcus and Ellie ride a train to his father, and Ellie goes off the train to smash a shop window with a Kurt Cobain stand up and they get "arrested" and all the adults have to come to the police station and make up their minds about their relationships.

NOTHING of this embarrassing singing stuff, which isn't made ANY cooler by playing the guitar embarrassingly bad (Will doesn't play the guitar in the book at all and would NEVER have done a thing like that).

Too bad the producers made this excellent book, which I can highly recommend for insights on relationships and growing up while being a highly amusing read, into a crappy and sappy movie.

3/10

[–] hppg 9 years ago

The book still had sappy moments. The ending was a bit more convoluted with the train/shop window but didn't it end with them all discussing things over an unrealistically large group dinner and having fun, even all the exes and people whose windows had been smashed etc?

I do agree it was better though. But I didn't dislike the film. They got a lot of the story and characters through.

[–] BornAndBred 8 years ago

Whilst I loved the book and agree that it is better than the film adaptation (aren't they always?) I disagree that the film is "sappy and crappy". I thought the film was very good and Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult absolutely nailed their parts.

[–] liscarkat (18589) 4 years ago

The book is the book, and the movie is the movie. It's not supposed to be simply a filmed copy of the book. I started enjoying movies more when I realized and accepted that.