While not quite the book, Excellent nonetheless.

Rating: 9/10 (27 December 2001)

While there were some things with the movie that were changed from the book that I didn't really like, for the most part it was very well made, without any of the really dumb dialogue that appears in most new movies of this scope.
I'm not sure I liked how Saruman was so evil from the get go. In the books he is a character who is pitied because he was twisted to evil use and could not escape it because he didn't recognize it for what it was worth. However, I understand that movies can't be as subtle as books without losing their audience.
So while I'm not quite pleased with the way the movie portrayed Saruman the White, I doubt if it could have done much better considering the medium. Other than that the movie is beautiful and oozes of real places and real people, just don't expect it to be exactly the book. Enjoy the movie for what it is, which is excellent.