A near miss

Rating: 8/10 (24 December 2001)

The main thing that is missing from the film is a sense of time passing. The relationships between the characters could have been established better with a only a line or two of dialog, or a facial expression here and there if only the viewer didn't get the feeling that these people had only known each other a few days.
Although I have read the Trilogy more than once over the last 20 years, I tried to imagine it from the perspective of someone who has not. It must have seemed to those unfamiliar with the story that it all takes place in the span of a couple of weeks or so, when actually from beginning to end the first book covers approximately one year. Simply displaying the date at the bottom of the screen from time to time would have helped flesh out the characters and their relationships I think.
Most of the departures from the book were unexpected. I had heard that Tom Bombadil was going to be excluded, but I figured they would work in the Barrow-Wight if only to add an action scene. Going in I fully expected the ending to be changed since its not very Hollywoodish, but by the end of the film I could tell it wasn't going to be.
I gave it an 8, which is probably more than it deserves, partly for the outstanding cinematography and partly because I'm such a huge fan of the Trilogy that I was able to fill in the gaps.