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Reviews
Geography Club (2013)
Well acted, important topic, but oh! the liberties taken by the writers!
Like several other reviewers before me, I just happened upon this movie and therefore had few expectations. And, like them, I was pleasantly surprised. As a mature gay man, I think the topic of bullying in schools is an important, yet complicated one: it is easy to sit back from the action and judge, but to experience it -- especially at such a confusing time of life -- isn't quite so black and white. So. ultimately, I thought it was a good film and was happy to have discovered it.
Then I went to IMDb to offer a rating - perhaps a "7" - and learned that the film was based on a series of books written by Brent Hartinger. So, I ran over to Audible.com and purchased the first and, upon completion of that, the remaining three books. Then, my opinion changed a bit.
Don't get me wrong, I think that the acting was actually quite good and that (for a small film) the production quality was higher than one might expect. However, the liberties that the screenplay writers took with the book's rich content were mind-boggling. As a life-long fan of both books and movies, I fully understand that strict translations of page to screen are nearly impossible and often fall flat when they do occur. However, the extent of the changes were so pervasive that it is nearly impossible to recognize some of the characters - in fact, reading the book helped me understand my confusion over the conflicting actions/statements of some of the characters in the film, who it appears were patched together from other characters in the book.
I think what bothers me more than anything is that I fear several of the liberties taken by the screen writers will really threaten any possibility of screen versions of the sequels in the book series. It's a shame, because the journey of these characters is a good and honest one that I think many teens would find compelling.
I awarded 5 points for tackling the topic in a realistic and accessible manner. An extra point for the nice portrayals by the young cast. It's still a good movie, but could easily have been a better one had the writers taken better care and trusted the original author. I encourage anyone interested in this movie or its topic to look for the books (hard copy, e-book, or audio book).
P.S. Your Cat Is Dead! (2002)
Not quite the character I read in the novel
Having recently read James Kirkwood's novel, I was interested to see the movie, which received much film festival exposure not too long ago. Although I'd never seen the play, I found the novel engrossing: sometimes funny, sometimes sad, sometimes squirm-in-your-seat uncomfortable. Still, the story of a man who appears to have so much going for him -- steady acting jobs; beautiful, successful girlfriend; great best friend; fabulous (and cheap) apartment in NYC; and, yes, a loyal cat -- who finds himself experiencing devastating setback after setback really held my attention.
While I think that Steve Guttenberg's adaptation was actually commendable -- e.g., having Jimmy interview Eddie in order to provide exposition for the burglar's character -- I cannot help but wonder if the Jimmy Zoole that he wrote was an entirely different character than the one I read. The Jimmy Zoole that I envisioned was more of a neat, conservative, draw-inside-the-lines type of guy. That is, boring. However, Guttenberg's portrayal showed only a very narrow part of Zoole: the needy, unhinged and sleep-deprived man who refused to be burgled one more time. Unfortunately, because little of the character's history made it into the screenplay, the impression that I got was that Zoole was always a sad-sack. And that's what doesn't make sense to me: how could such a desperately miserable man have ever occupied that amazing loft, or won the affection of such a smart and beautiful woman, or had such wonderful friends (not shown in the movie)?
I'm curious to see how versions of this story are played out on the stage. Perhaps my read of the novel differs from most. Nonetheless, I was sorely disappointed by the film, in spite of the powerful performance by Lombardo Boyer.