Top Five differences between the book and the film

Rating: 7/10 (9 February 2001)

Some semi-spoilers below.
Top Five differences between the book and the film:
1. Thanks to Iben Hjejle's wonderful performance, Laura emerges as a real, independent person more strongly than she does in the book, where we tend to see her only through the prism of Rob's self-absorbed personality. The film also builds up our perception of what Laura means to Rob by giving us Rob's Top Five Things I Miss about Laura, which I don't remember being in the book. The film does add something here.
2. The film ends with Rob and Laura implicitly but clearly on the way to middle-class, middle-aged prosperity and contentment. Rob starts his own record company, Laura enjoys her career success. The book is more equivocal. In the book, Laura resents having to work in the corporate world, and Rob just ends up sticking with what he knows. The film ends up affirming the American Way; the book gives its characters smaller joys in the bleakness of post-Thatcher Britain. The film's relatively upbeat ending isn't overdone, but I prefer the book.
3. In the film, things take their natural course in the car scene. In the book, Rob finds an excuse to desist, as a way of hurting Laura. In a way, the book is more complex and interesting at this point, but it's probably one twist too many and, anyway, it assumes a degree of self-control on Rob's part that he doesn't show any sign of anywhere else in the story. I give this one to the film.
4. In the film, Dick meets his girlfriend by discovering mutual musical interests in the record shop. Those of us who have spent half our lives hanging around used record shops know that those places aren't exactly the Love Boat; the only people you ever meet are sad, solitary, dissolute males like yourself. The book has Dick meeting his girlfriend somewhere outside of hours, and then progressively trying to indoctrinate her with his favourite music. This is a lot more true to life.
5. Ian/Ray is a somewhat distant, shadowy figure in the book. Tim Robbins brings him to life brilliantly in the film. Rob imagines a much more physical comeuppance for him in the film than he gets in the book, and this works very well on the big screen. This is a good example of the film staying very true to the spirit of the book even when some of the details differ.
All in all, the film is very enjoyable and if you read the book you'll see how skilfully the film has been adapted from it. But inevitably the book has more time to dwell on Rob's thoughts, and since it's Rob's internal mid-life crisis that the story is all about, I think the book does have more to offer. It's a pity also that the film didn't make better use of the soundtrack to reflect the characters' emotional lives, which after all is the whole idea of the story. Still, this is a great film to sit down with in front of the video player with that pizza and that beer and those kettle chips.