The Critical Filmmaker

A friend of mine told me that I shouldn't see the film, but read the book instead.  I decided to watch it anyway, since it was on cable the other night.  It's not a bad film, but I felt something was lacking.  I've noticed something interesting with films adapted from books.  They either skim the surface, because they assume everyone has read the book, or they skim the surface because they have a deal with the author to entice people to go and read the book after they've finished the movie. Of course, not all film adaptations fall into this trap.  The Lord of the Rings and the very first Harry Potter film are a few of several who give the audience enough information to comprehend what's going on.  Then there are films like Seabiscuit which told a great story, but glossed over the background, leaving me feeling like they were just playing out highlights from the book.  The second Harry Potter film was much worse.  I couldn't follow it at all an...

There is a new film being released this weekend titled "The Last Rites of Joe May" that has a familiar ring to it.  The plot summary sounds similar to The Visitor, which was the first film I had seen at the preview screenings I attend.  It was a few years back, so this is a much belated review of that film. The similarities in plot-line are as follows:  A lonely man arrives at his apartment to find strangers living there, and initially tries to kick them out, then feels sorry for them and becomes involved in their own personal struggle. I thoroughly enjoyed The Visitor, despite some concerns with the plot twist midway through.  I worried at first that this would be a veiled political film about being more tolerant about illegal immigrants in the US, but if it was, I didn't notice it.  I'm not a political person and would rather not see a film with an agenda.  Fortunately, this one didn't seem to have one. As a whole it was a heart-warming story about ...