Don't go see this movie, pick up the book instead

Rating: 3/10 (1 June 2006)

I reaaally didn't like this movie. I liked the book, read it in 2 days, it was a page-turner. still, the movie sucked big time. i mean, it was watchable for someone who had never heard of the book or the 'controversy' surrounding it, but for me it was just sad, sad, sad.
Here's why: 1. The cast - a big no-no. Tom Hanks was awful, he looked funny, talked funny, his hair was in all the wrong places, i couldn't look at him or listen to him without imagining how it would be to send him back to the terminal as soon as possible. Audrey Tatou was sweet, like candy for the eyes, but she didn't fit in this movie. She looked pretty dumb and not like anything i had imagined while reading the book - i actually cheered for sophie marceau to play her role, but i doubt that hanks could contribute to that chemistry attempt as well. and sadly i disliked jean reno- he was whiny and funny he didn't work at all, and hes one of the coolest actors out there so that was exceptionally sad to see.
2. the book was cut down massively for the running time of the movie. it was altered, made quite simple and generally censored a whole lot.
3. the albino guy sucked. the scenes of self-punishment were gross at times and they showed his face in the first scene of the movie - how unimaginative of the director.
4. the camera did a bad job. editing as well. the shots of the main characters were made so up-close that i felt like i was gonna be consumed by the presence of tom hanks' giant head and his weird up-do. somewhere along the line of these giant heads the beautiful cities of Paris and London got lost - and i regretted not seeing more of them.
5. the story wasn't connected properly. everything went down too fast and it was simplified as if the audience would be too simple-minded to grasp any complicated notions in this film.
There's more, but I'm actually too tired to write more. What I actually did like about this movie was a farely nice ending, technically i mean - the way it was shot and summoned the final idea with the final shots was done right. and also the fact that while talking in between themselves the french actually spoke french! some irritating accent was present in other scenes, but this was a mild condition compared to some other similar Hollywood produced films. so thumbs up for that, if for nothing else.
Cheers, Lana