Mixed reviews depending knowledge of the story

Rating: 6/10 (24 March 2012)

My family went to see the movie yesterday and came home with mixed reviews. Of the five of us, three have read the books, one is reading them and one has no interest in reading them. Accordingly, those of us who have read/are reading the books, understood the movie. The one who has no frame of reference for the story, hated the movie. He found it choppy, disjointed, shallow and had a hard time following the storyline. And the extreme use of the hand held/shaky camera style gave him a headache.
For myself, I enjoyed the books but found the movie to be unsatisfying...which is no shock. It's usually that way when they take a well known story and make it into a movie. Especially one told in the first person. Without knowing what was going on in her mind (despite Jennifer Lawrence trying to convey as much as possible with her eyes/facial expressions) it's difficult to fully understand the storyline. My personal issue was that it made Katniss look as though she just jumped from one guy to the other...kind of made her seem skanky & shallow.
The timing also felt a bit off...like the first 2/3 of the movie was leading up to the arena and then the rest was really rushed. There is no time given to the cave and all that happens in that part of the story. I agree with the other reviewer who felt that the movie was basically a synopsis of the book...it was like watching a really shaky Cliff Notes.
I think Jennifer Lawrence carries the movie as the acting by the two male leads wasn't that great. Woody Harrelson is great as Haymitch but its written as such a small role.