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?
