I love movies. It's one way I treat myself. Of course, there are plenty of movies that are junk and not worth the $7.50 to $10.00 it costs to see them in the theater. But there are lots of fun or wonderful movies too.
Movies adapted from books rarely measure up to the novels. How could they? Most movies last about two hours. Most average length books, when recorded for unabridged audio, are seven to ten hours in length. Still, there is the occasional movie that lives up to the novel. Gone With the Wind is one. Although they changed some significant things (if memory serves, in the book Scarlett had children by all three of her husbands, not just Rhett), I can enjoy the movie in its own right. And IMHO, I think the movie version of The Horse Whisperer was actually superior to the book because of the ending.
It has been a long, long time since I have anticipated a movie with such a sense of hope and excitement as I feel about The Help. It opens at my local theater this Wednesday, and I plan to be there for the first show. Hopefully, the tickets won't be sold out before I get mine.
The Help is one of the best novels I've ever read. I've been raving about it for two years. Must have mentioned it here several times at least. Usually, loving a book makes me dread the movie a little bit, fearing what will be cut and how the creative folks will change it. With this book, I'm hopeful because the author has been very involved in the film version. Plus a writer friend got to go to an early preview and loved it.
If you haven't read The Help, do it. You won't be sorry. And if you don't have seeing The Help on the big screen in your plans, you might want to add it to your schedule.
~robin
