Very disappointing

Rating: 4/10 (11 May 2014)

I do not quite understand why screenplay writers feel that they can do a better job than the author of the novel. I would understand if that was for clarity or brevity, but this is not a War and Peace adaptation. They methodically and consistently butcher the novel without any particular reason, at least none apparent to me. Add very poor directing and you get exactly what I saw on the screen. This movie creates an impression of something put together "just in time" before a deadline, like someone crammed the novel overnight, and then tried to slap something together to pass for a screen version. It is very disappointing really, because the book is not a Pulitzer candidate, but the idea and the story are not bad. This could have been far more entertaining...