Book Club Nuts and Bolts

We will be reading one book a month. We will have weekly group discussions if you are interested with a final discussion at the end of the month. The new book choice for the following month will be posted at least two weeks before the beginning of the new month. You can pick and choose if you want to participate. We will have at least one giveaway each month for our readers! If you have any book suggestions, please email either Jessica or MiMi. We are in new territory, so we might have to work out some kinks as we go along. We hope you make new friends and have fun!

Our new email address: readwithgirlfriends@yahoo.com

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Movie Review: The Time Traveler's Wife

I know you've all been waiting with baited breath for our first movie review, right?


I think we all went in with pretty low expectations because when a movie is based on a book it can be really good or really bad. You never know if they're gonna follow the plot or totally change it up.

A group of 6 of us went. 4 of us had read the book and 2 hadn't. We were curious to see what the 2 would think, since they hadn't read the book.

***Spoilers Below!!***


For me, MiMi, I was thinking that if I hadn't read the book first I would never have caught on to the movie. Just like in the book, there are a lot of twists, turns and jumping around in time. The 2 people who didn't read the book (Jessica's mom and my aunt) said they had no problem following the plot and the jumping around in time.

We all liked the movie, and for those of us who read it beforehand, we thought that they actually did a really good job of following the story line.

There were a few change-ups that we noticed. There were some tangents in the book that they never brought up in the movie. And there were characters, both small and bigger, that were left out completely.

We were all surprised at the person who played Gomez. The guy was supposed to be tall and blond and good looking. But instead, they went with a shorter, dark haired, sorta hairy lookin' guy. I guess it was a small thing, but couldn't they find a tall blond to play the part?

Also, the affair that happens once between Claire and Gomez never takes place in the movie. You don't get to know Claire's family as deeply as they are profiled in the book.

Some of the things that happened in the book still happened in the movie but were changed up a bit. Locations, circumstances and such.

All in all, nothing they left out or changed up really affected the movie in a negative way, in our humble opinions.

Of course the ending was a little different, maybe not as ambiguous as the book. In the book it was sort of left open to interpretation and when Henry dies he never sees Claire again; at least in this life.

The movie ended with a more positive spin on his death. They are able to continue to see each other after his death, which differs from the book. Although they leave out that part at the end of the book where they join up and are together forever after Claire passes away at an old age.

We thought the movie was really good and the way it ends actually leaves it open, we think, to make another movie. The book ended that way as well, with Claire and Henry's daughter being a Time Traveler also, it seems there should be a way for her to go back and develop a cure or something to save her father.

Of course, if you want to see the movie, you should read the book first, because the book is always better!

If you saw the movie also, what did you think?

7 comments:

  1. I can't wait to see this movie. But I think it will have to be alone when the kids are in schoo. I have read this book and I loved it!

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  2. I loved the book and the movie is high on my list (anything with Eric Bana is high on my list).

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  3. Loved the book...adored it really. Cant wait to see the movie eventually LOL

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  4. The movie was good. Seemed like 50% of the book was left out of the movie (but it was a complex book). Little things (like how much the jackpot was) were changed, I was wondering WHY it needed to be changed. I was hoping for the last scene of the book to be played out but it was still good. I mean, I really liked the movie!!! It was good.

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  5. Yeah, that's right, I forgot that we decided about half of the book was left out. But I'm thinking that there were lots of side stories that didn't necessarily have to be in the movie. I thought the ending of the book was better because it seemed to offer more hope; if you believe in an afterlife anyway.
    Have any of you seen PS I love you? That was a book first by Cecilia Ahearn and I just watched the movie and they changed it up SO much that it was hardly recognizable as the dang book. That stuff just ticks me off. : )

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  6. I loved the book. I watched the movie first and than read the book and would say the book was so much better. I pretty much figured out the movie before it was half way over and I was ready to go but since I went with friends I couldn't leave. : )
    I really hate when they change alot of stuff just for the movie.

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  7. I've seen PS I love you but never read it. I loved that movie. Must be because I never read the book.

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