The book was much better

Rating: 6/10 (8 February 2010)

I had read the book a few weeks before the movie, and will say I was disappointed by the movie. Though Channing and Seyfriend give great performances (I was very pleasantly surprised by Channing's), and the father-son scenes are very touching, the plot itself was rather confusing. The ending did not have nearly as much insight as the book did, only indicating that John paid for the treatment, but not his motivations and reasoning behind it, like the book. The first few scenes of the movie didn't seem to give the characters enough time to develop the chemistry that was later seen between them. It seemed a bit too "fast-fowarded" for me, but some make take to that. The best scenes in the movie, by far, were the intense scenes with John and his father, especially the "hospital scene," in which Channing gives a great performance. Overall, a good movie, but the book is much, much better (as with many films adapted from books).