Long, but pretty good

Rating: 7/10 (6 December 2001)

Adaptation of J.K. Rowling's very popular book is as good an adaptation as possible...but it doesn't completely work.
The big problem was they were afraid to cut anything out of the book (they'd have school children all around the world after them), so they try to put everything in and there's too much for one movie. Also it's a virtual word-by-word recitation of the book--if you've read the book, you've seen the movie. This doesn't allow director Chris Columbus any leeway to change things or add his own personal stamp (not that Columbus was ever an inventive director to begin with). So, it just ends up being the book visualized exactly as written.
The acting is so-so. The kids picked to play Harry, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger are pretty good--not great, but certainly not bad. The adults vary wildly--Maggie Smith and Zoe Wanamaker (love her yellow eyes!) are just great as teachers at Hogwats...Alan Rickman, Richard Harris and Robbie Coltrane are horrible...they're REALLY not enjoying themselves. Also John Williams bombastic score is annoying.
Still, it looks great, moves fairly quickly and there's a fantastic sequence showing a Quidditch game. So, it's OK but nothing great. Maybe if Spielberg had directed it...