Movies made from books, where you actually liked the movie

[Anonymous]

Inspired by the "covers that improved on the original" thread ...

I normally hate watching a movie for which I had already read (and enjoyed) the book. They have to cut so much content out in order to fit into a 2-hour format, and the plot and character development always suffer as a result.

But, I'm sure there are some made-from-books movies that are actually good movies. The best example I can think of is Shawshank Redemption - I had read the book and loved it, but was still thrilled with the movie. They did make some changes, but I thought the changes actually enhanced the story instead of detracting from it.

Oddly, the only other one I can think of is Stand By Me (yes I'm dating myself here). I guess that novella format lends itself well to translation into a movie, or maybe there was something about that particular collection.

What others have you enjoyed?

[Anonymous]

The notebook
Devil wears Prada
Harry Potter
The help
Bridget jones Diary #1
Hunger games
Charlie and the chocolate factory (with gene wilder)
Little Women

[Anonymous]

I thought the Divergent movies were better than the books, because the books were not great (the first one was good but after that they not so much).

[Anonymous]

The Road
The Stand
The Stoning of Soraya
Slumdog Millionaire

[Anonymous]

I really loved the Lord of the Rings trilogy, although I know some Tolkien super fans weren't crazy about them. I'm re-reading Fellowship right now and realizing again how awesome the scenes in the movie were.

I loved book version of The Big Short and do think it's better than the movie, but damn the movie was GOOD. That's a really hard story to adapt, but they did a great job.

[Anonymous]

Sophie's choice
Jurassic Park
Lord of the Rings

[Anonymous]

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (miniseries).

[Anonymous]

The Shining

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Shining

Yes!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Shining

Yes!

Nah. Shitty adaptation.

[Anonymous]

Marley and Me

[Anonymous]

Book thief

[Anonymous]

Wonder Boys with Michael Douglas. I love that movie.

[Anonymous]

Hugo (The Invention of Hugo Cabret)

[Anonymous]

Ooh, Lord of the Rings is a good one!

I wasn't crazy about The Shining, really did like the book better. And I'm the OP, so definitely don't have anything against Stephen King adaptations LOL!