This was an interesting book, very Steinbeckesque I thought. Clint
Eastwood's film production followed the book superficially more
closely than any movie I can recall. It just goes to show how true to
a book a film can actually be. Usually, filmmakers seem to buy the
rights to rewrite a book the way they want it - a small notch above
plagiarism justified only by the money they pay for the right. On the
contrary though, there have been a few films that I liked better than
the book.
The story was really a study on its principal characters, and the
author went to great length to reveal the inner workings and emotions
of its characters. He was liberal with metaphor and hyperbole to
embellish his descriptive analyses. The real central character of the
story, as seen from the book much more than in the movie, was Dave
Boyle. Dave's personality was complicated by childhood abuse, and it
would have required some complex cinematography to accomplish what the
narrative reveals about him. It is unfortunate that the film majors
more on the story as a mystery than as a difficult study of
personalities within a small subculture. The climactic scenes toward
the end were modified a bit in the film - I don't know that the
modifications helped the storyline. However, the final scenes of the
book are a rather lingering melodrama and commentary as though the
author did not want to bring it to a close - might have been a bit
more succinct I think.
The movie had an excellent cast. Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, Lawrence
Fishburn, and of course, Tim Robbins. As much as I like to see Tim
Robbins in films, I don't know that he was the best choice for the
role of Dave Boyle, but I don't know who might have made a better
choice either. The film majored more on the character of Jimmy
Marcus, played by Sean Penn.
--
Howard Duck
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