I rarely watch movies,  this might be the second movie I’ve watched this year and it’s 2 days from December.  Oh well.   I’m not impressed.    I watched because I think  I saw it back in 1986,  when it was released.  I was confusing it with the Dead Poet’s Society and although I still think I saw Seize the Day, I was obviously not impressed then and I hadn’t read the book. 

The movie was good for what it was.  But it wasn’t anywhere nearly what the book by Saul Bellow was. Robin Williams was excellent in his overly-dramatic role,   and the rest  of the cast was wonderful ((in my ignorant opinion). The movie even managed to catch a bit of the book’s lighthearted approach without which it would all descend into gloom and doom.  But I felt like I was being given a 90-minute version of a rather thought-provoking 4-hour book (a novella).  It felt condensed with a lot of the meaning left out and the obligatory addition o skin.

There have been movies I’ve wanted to see over the years,  Cloud Atlas for one.  But if this is any indication of what happens to books I enjoy,  I have to say I’m just as happy to skip them.  Movies which were originally intended to be movies are probably a LOT better unless you’re looking for a very picturesque rendition and a seriously cut version – like Pride and Prejudice. 

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak is a favorite book and then I watched the movie.  Tragically pathetic. And Belizaire the Cajun is a favorite movie and it was never a book.  The Wanderers is another favorite and it only claims to be “based on” a book. It is kind of based on Richard Price’s first novel, but …    Finally,  Blade Runner is a brilliant novel by Philip K. Dick (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?)  and made into an entirely different brilliant movie by Ridley Scott.  I could  go on with a few more movies but like I said, I watch very few.  

See?  I do enjoy some movies but, based on my preferences,  I doubt I’ll watch or go to more.  I can’t imagine going to see any of those playing within 50-60 miles now.