To anyone who has no idea what they have just watched here is the opinion of someone who read the book (which helps a lot in understanding the movie).
The book also starts with Jake and his girlfriend going to visits his parents house. The girlfriend had been getting strange phone calls for weeks from her own number, and whoever is calling always leaves a voicemail saying "there is only one question to answer" but she hasn't told Jake about it yet. When they get to jakes house the interactions are also odd but Jakes parents dont age like in the movie. When they finally leave they also stop at the ice cream shop and then at the school where Jake disappears. Worried , his girlfriend goes after him , and there are many pages describing how terrified she is while going through rooms from the school where only a janitor lives. That's when the big plottwist of the book happens. You find out that the girlfriend never existed, it was only someone Jake once met when he was young but he didn't manage to get the courage to ask for her number. You find out that when he was young he was a bright young man who worked at a lab but he lacked social skills so he was never able to make many friends, or even just interact with people, so eventually he quit and became a janitor so he could be alone. However he becomes extremely lonely, slowly loosing his mind while dreaming of the life he could have lived and the importance of relationships. You find out that the "question" mentioned on the phone calls is "What are you waiting for" (which unfortunately doesn't appear in the movie although the phone calls do). This is what Jake has been thinking for days while debating if he should or shouldnt kill himself. So he writes a notebook with this whole story of the girlfriend which is basically the book you are reading and he eventually kills himself over loneliness.
In the movie there isn't a big plottwist because it is much more evident throughout the movie that this is sort of a dream, or that it's not really reality. The girlfriend says in the end that she never actually talked to Jake indicating that they never dated. The death occurs in the dance scene but it's not as explicit as in the book. The final song seems to be about not giving up which Jake tried for a long time. I'm just disappointed that they never reveal what the question of the phone calls was , because it makes them feel pointless...
There are many scenes in the movie that don't happen in the book, but overall the story is the same. I believe they made an amazing adaptation! It is very visually pleasing, the acting is amazing and I loved the mixing of dance, music and animation when you weren't expecting at all.
So there you have it! I hope this helped some of you understanding the movie a bit better !
The book also starts with Jake and his girlfriend going to visits his parents house. The girlfriend had been getting strange phone calls for weeks from her own number, and whoever is calling always leaves a voicemail saying "there is only one question to answer" but she hasn't told Jake about it yet. When they get to jakes house the interactions are also odd but Jakes parents dont age like in the movie. When they finally leave they also stop at the ice cream shop and then at the school where Jake disappears. Worried , his girlfriend goes after him , and there are many pages describing how terrified she is while going through rooms from the school where only a janitor lives. That's when the big plottwist of the book happens. You find out that the girlfriend never existed, it was only someone Jake once met when he was young but he didn't manage to get the courage to ask for her number. You find out that when he was young he was a bright young man who worked at a lab but he lacked social skills so he was never able to make many friends, or even just interact with people, so eventually he quit and became a janitor so he could be alone. However he becomes extremely lonely, slowly loosing his mind while dreaming of the life he could have lived and the importance of relationships. You find out that the "question" mentioned on the phone calls is "What are you waiting for" (which unfortunately doesn't appear in the movie although the phone calls do). This is what Jake has been thinking for days while debating if he should or shouldnt kill himself. So he writes a notebook with this whole story of the girlfriend which is basically the book you are reading and he eventually kills himself over loneliness.
In the movie there isn't a big plottwist because it is much more evident throughout the movie that this is sort of a dream, or that it's not really reality. The girlfriend says in the end that she never actually talked to Jake indicating that they never dated. The death occurs in the dance scene but it's not as explicit as in the book. The final song seems to be about not giving up which Jake tried for a long time. I'm just disappointed that they never reveal what the question of the phone calls was , because it makes them feel pointless...
There are many scenes in the movie that don't happen in the book, but overall the story is the same. I believe they made an amazing adaptation! It is very visually pleasing, the acting is amazing and I loved the mixing of dance, music and animation when you weren't expecting at all.
So there you have it! I hope this helped some of you understanding the movie a bit better !