I saw this movie on a plane in the middle of the night--not ideal viewing conditions--and found it acceptable airplane fare to while away long hours, but nothing remarkable. I'd read the book earlier, so was curious to see how it might be handled as a film. Well...
They followed the book pretty closely, but it's a 400+ page novel. Rather than redevelop the ideas in the story for the tighter format required by the screen, they tried to keep in all the various plot elements and cut out the detail needed to preserve the story's integrity. What a pity.
The question of what happens to a family who loses a child to some unknown person/event is an interesting one worthy of exploration. The twist of having that child found again nine years later opens another can of worms. The book manages to develop the characters of the whole family better than the film, which concentrates on Beth and Sam, but both result in a "too perfect" ending that doesn't really satisfy.
I suspect that the film has a fairly strong appeal for the mature (50+) female audience...but they don't seem to be such keen movie goers. It might do well on TV...
They followed the book pretty closely, but it's a 400+ page novel. Rather than redevelop the ideas in the story for the tighter format required by the screen, they tried to keep in all the various plot elements and cut out the detail needed to preserve the story's integrity. What a pity.
The question of what happens to a family who loses a child to some unknown person/event is an interesting one worthy of exploration. The twist of having that child found again nine years later opens another can of worms. The book manages to develop the characters of the whole family better than the film, which concentrates on Beth and Sam, but both result in a "too perfect" ending that doesn't really satisfy.
I suspect that the film has a fairly strong appeal for the mature (50+) female audience...but they don't seem to be such keen movie goers. It might do well on TV...