One of the few, I-Like-It-Better-Than-The-Book Movies.
Of course, the book is one of those angst-ridden realism graphic novels. They also change a lot of the plot around with the movie, while leaving the characters and setting almost freakishly similar to the drawings in the book.
The plot is the life of Enid and Rebecca after high school, neither with any big plans besides hanging around their hometown and eventually getting an apartment together.
In fact, it’s almost entirely different. What a perfect comparison, when Lifetime was marketing this movie as “Starring Scarlett Johansson” before she really became Scarlett Johansson and her character is strictly a sideline best friend. It’s a very “Uh, duh” role really, while there is a milieu of other characters are more interesting.
But that’s something else too– the graphic novel was about the relationship between Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson), while the film creates this relationship between Enid and Seymour (Steve Buscemi) and the friendship aspect hits a back burner.
Again, it’s not really depressing for the film to be so different from the graphic novel. The film has more power to it, whether from the addition of music to the strengthening of characters and relationships, a better development of plotlines. Instead of hyper-realism, we are presented with a sad world saturated with fake colors.
I can understand it well enough. The graphic novel wouldn’t work as movie, might as well change it to work. The same themes are hit, but with considerably different effects. I recommend watching it if you happen to hold too much hope for current society.
