I read a lot. I watch movies a lot. I also eat jellybeans a lot, but that is not particularly relevant right now...
We just saw movie One Day with Anne Hathaway, and while it held my attention, it is a good thing it was five bucks for two people at home and not full price in the theatre
I actually wanted to see One Day in the movie theatre as I had loved the book so much, and I do like Anne Hathaway, however it had mediocre reviews and a really brief theatrical run. Which I should have known are usually signs of something.
In August 2010 I wrote this about the book One Day, and later chose it as one of my favourites of the year:
The best of the bunch is a book I had never heard of before, by a guy I had never heard of. The book is "One Day" by David Nicholls, and its premise could be gimmicky: the book traces the 20-year relationship of Emma and Dexter by checking in with them on July 15 every year, starting when they graduate university. What starts as a one-night stand becomes a flirtatious friendship between the entitled rich boy and the brainy bohemian girl. Though this is a fast summer read, it is smart and funny and touching, with great humour and great insight about your 20s to 30s to 40s. And sneaking in there beneath the comedy is a stealth tearjerker - these crazy kids are perfect for each other and yet cannot get together. I laughed and yes I welled up with a tear or two. Read it!
Sometimes book-to-movie adaptations work ----- the idea has to makes sense, and then they have to adapt it properly, not too strictly and not too wildly off course. There are lots that work really well, from Gone with the Wind to Terms of Endearment to the Lord Of The Rings.
Then you have those that don't work, from Striptease to One For The Money (both good books and bad movies).
With One Day I think they tried to mimic the book too closely, hitting all the plot points and not going into the emotions at all. Plus they took some of the edge off the lead characters to make them more mainstream. and maybe the 'one day a year' thing doesn't translate well to film. So skip the movie, read the book.
As for the next movie I want to see, it's based on Tolstoy. Oops, no it isn't... I actually don't think Magic Mike was a book first...
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