Don't read the book first and you will have a fairly enjoyable time

Rating: 7/10 (7 March 2014)

**SPOILER ALERT** I definitely approached this film with a lot of trepidation, especially since I did not enjoy David O. Russell's latest offering, American Hustle much. I'm happy to say that I enjoyed this film more than that one.
I read the book before I watched the movie, but I may as well have not. There were quite a few departures from the book which significantly took away from the suspense. For example, the reader did not know the reason as to why Pat went into the facility in the first place until about three-quarters of the way into the book and the length of time he was in the hospital was significantly longer in the book than in the movie. The film also skipped over the fact that Nicki had completely moved on from Pat, divorcing him almost straight after he entered the hospital and remarrying.
I've got to say that the film had a slow patch in the middle which ruined the steady pace that it had gathered until that point. It just became a sort of screaming match between all the different actors, making it difficult to stay engaged.
I felt the film focused too much on the relationship between Pat and Tiffany, missing out on interactions between Pat and his family, particularly his mother and brother, and also his friends, Ronnie & Veronica, which were great in the book. It also included the character of Danny far more than in the book. I didn't think that Bradley Cooper was spectacular and even Jennifer Lawrence wasn't amazing. As much as I liked DeNiro's performance, I felt it was a bit obviously a star-vehicle for him. The character had been padded out for him, while Melissa Leo's character faded more into the background, playing a much smaller role than in the novel (which was a shame, as she gave a really lovely performance).
Even though it has its flaws, the movie is actually pretty good as a stand-alone film, but not the most satisfying adaptation of the book.