Good movie, better book

Rating: 9/10 (15 February 2003)

I have seen the movie and read the book (I own both by the way) and I would have to say that although this was a good movie, one should definitely read the book.
There were a lot of things in the book that Darren Aronofsky ignored while making the movie, which is a major reason why I think the book is better. For instance, the quick shots in the movie of the pupils dialating, etc. disappointed me the most with this movie. One of the reasons the book was so great was because Selby, Jr. described the heroin parties in great detail, which was the meat of the entire Harry, Marion, and Tyrone story . For Aronofsky to condense the most entertaining part of the book into quick shots to give audiences the IDEA that the characters are getting high made me feel cheated out of the full experience.
Another part I was disappointed about was that Marion and Harry's love wasn't shown as well as it was shown in the book. I have read many other reviews of this movie that agree with me on this one. At times when the two are talking they seem rushed to me, like Aronofsky just wanted the audience to get the IDEA that they are in love. If the Harry, Marion, and Tyrone section wasn't so rushed then I think that this movie would have been a lot better. Even so, I still think this is the most entertaining section in the movie; too bad it was ignored.
However, the part that was not rushed and, to me, seemed drawn out was the Sarah Goldfarb section. Her's seemed like Aronofsky's favorite story and he explains it well (often exactly like the book) although there are some parts that seem more long-winded than effective. The part where the people come out of the T.V. could have been a lot better if the T.V. characters didn't break into a Conga-line (or however you spell it). For me it made the scene seem more fun than scary and disturbing, and watching this part more than twice is liable to cause the fast-forward button to be pressed.
This totally sounds like a bad review, but this really is a good movie for someone who didn't read the book first. If I subtract my biases for the book then I have a very good movie sitting in front of me. I guess it just wasn't what I expected after reading the words first, which is probably a normal reaction to everyone who has read the book before seeing the movie. As a whole I recommend this movie to anyone who likes different movies and does not get offended easily, but the book is a must no matter what the circumstances.