Adaptation of the Fittest Naturally , ease of selling isn't the only reason writers and financiers turn to source material. Often there's an extraordinary piece of literature that has made a deep emotional mark on an artist, and the artist feels the creative need to communicate these feelings in the most powerful storytelling medium there is. Anthony Minghella has made rich films of two literary passions, The English Patient and The Talented Mr. Ripley . Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski have made something of a cottage industry for themselves with their intricate, thoughtful biographies of Ed Wood, Larry Flynt, and Andy Kaufman. Sometimes there's a grand foreign film with a great idea that just hasn't reached its widest potential audience and could if it were told in our language with our stars.
Adaptations are good business.
The End of the Affair, Snow Falling on Cedars, The Cider House Rules, Angela's Ashes, and Stuart Little are a few of a high-pedigree pack. All too often in adaptations of great works of literature, the film versions suffer mightily in comparison. But there are also the classic exceptions to that rule, where the movie version is a far better work than the book. Witness, from the archives, The Graduate and The Hustler. To answer these questions, we focus on Truth.