The Book Was Better

Rating: 4/10 (22 August 2014)

I went to an advance screening of this movie after I was hopefully misled by reviews that stated it was "close to the book" and seeing the author so obviously involved in all their social media publicity.
It does stay close to the spirit of the book in a sense, but they twist and distort a number of the scenes (not enough to change the story dramatically, but enough to annoy someone who loved the novel). I expected that to a certain extent; like the way they sort of wiped out the peripheral members of her family to focus on her love for Adam. I did not expect them to almost obscure Teddy's role from the story entirely. Even her scenes with Kim are limited to her discussing Adam. I should've expected them to up the drama by breaking her and Adam up and bumping her Julliard letter.
Tiny tweaks aside, one of the most disturbing things about the film was the lack of passion for the music. It's clear Mia has a stand in who can actually play cello (especially in her more animated scenes), and you can see Chloe actually striving for that sense of being lost in the music, but she clearly isn't there. Adam was a million times worse. As a frequent concert goer I expected a lot more energy and investment from his performances, but it's like he's gliding over them. These people are supposed to breathe music, it is the foundation of their relationship and what ultimately pulls them in different directions, but you just don't see it in the film. It's like watching puppets on a stage. It was awful. All I could think about was the sequel and how these people couldn't possibly perform at that level - they can't even manage to portray musically talented teenagers, let alone amazing adult musicians.
Even their love for each other seems a little bit put on. I expected Hollywood to force the story to fit their idea of a teenage romance, but they stripped the story of its soul in the process. The book is amazing and moving and you're not sure where it's going but the movie is just another cookie cutter romantic drama.