A Good Movie of a Book

Let's face it, most movie renditions of books disappoint people who know and love the originals. Generally, a movie based on a book can hope at best to be a good movie in its own right ~ sometimes, rarely, they are powerful versions that actually improve on the book in a substantial way.

Most often, though, a movie does some kind of real violence to its progenitor. In the case of fantasy or childhood favorites this risk is very high, because they live vividly in each unique imagination. If you've read a story over and over, you know what each character looks and sounds like, you can smell the distinctive fragrance of its locations, you have visualized the mood created by the slant of light in every chapter and scene.

It was thus with some trepidation that I went to see The Lion, The Witch, and the The Wardrobe. As the movie progressed I was stunned to find that it was pitch-perfect, played absolutely straight and with a minimum of elaboration and fuss. There were very, very few false notes. The dialog was straight out of the book, and the mood was truly congruent with my imaginative experience. I can't believe I'm saying this, but: Bravo, Disney!

It's hard to imagine someone who liked the book not enjoying the movie. It's also quite possible that seeing the movie would make someone want to read the book. Amazing.