Why o Why must you change the book?

Rating: 6/10 (12 January 2005)

I read the book before seeing the movie, and was disappointed with the cinematic version. Winona Ryder's character in real life was much less attractive, which added to many a person not feeling her pain as directly as they should have. My biggest problem with the movie is that they find the diary. This does NOT happen in the book, and I truly have no idea why they decided to add that to an already fine story. Did we really need the "emotional climax" of them finding out what Susanna had to say about the each of them? I don't know why they needed to embarrass Susanna into realizing that she had problems too. Of course she had her own problems, she is in the institution with them. Jolie's character is more defined as truly insane in the book, which allows Susanna to realize that she in NOT insane, since Lisa (Jolie) is. I hate to be the elitist crying foul when a book is changed, since almost no movie (LOTR excluded) does NOT change something in the theatrical version. But this book is a quick, fun read, and I suggest anyone who liked the movie to find a time to read it. Overall, with fine performances by the actresses (Britney Murphy earns some stripes here), this movie is a pleasure to watch if you are into the mental psyche of people. Nothing too disturbing here, so if you are a fan of the actresses and/or want to see an Oscar winning performance, by all means give this movie a shot. Book changing screenplay for no reason lowers my vote from 7 to 6.