I think the first problem is the narrative technique, and the director should make some adjustments.
The original book tells different stories from the perspective of different characters, and the time sequence is often disrupted. Many stories appear in fragments, but they do not appear to be scattered due to the cohesion of the character narratives. However, film and literature are different means of expression, and it is difficult for the pictures to be directly connected. I was looking forward to how to rearrange all the clues when watching the movie, but the director copied the narrative method of the original book.
There is nothing wrong with the narration of multiple characters, but I feel that the director did not make good use of this narrative method. The inner struggles of some characters that were difficult to express on the original screen were not expressed through the narration, at least not reaching the depth of the book.
The second problem is that there are few bright spots in the changes made by the director.
First of all, I want to say that I think the revision of the ending is very good, and it is more real than the novel. But in terms of the story structure, the director seemed to start shooting without thinking about what to say, and then selected a few 90-minute films and took them out.
In order to concentrate the plot and time limit, it is absolutely understandable to cut off Alexander's love line and the role of temporary guardian. But what I don’t understand is the significance of the director’s role as Sara’s sister. At first I thought she would act in a love scene with Alexander instead of the temporary guardian, but later I found that this role was completely redundant.
Another thing I can't understand is the arrangement of the length of the movie. Most of the content of the original book is about the conflict between Anna's unfair experience and Sara's protection of Kate. In the end, it is pointed out that Anna's prosecution is not to save her sister, but to help her out. But the film hurriedly began to suggest Sara's desire to die, but it didn't talk about the previous conflict.
When I was reading, I was very impressed. Anna played well in school hockey. The teacher recommended her to go to a summer camp in another place, but Sara prevented Anna from leaving home for Kate to be rescued in time. This passage takes us to a new level to think about Anna's experience: not only was she forced to get needles since she was a child, but she also didn't even have the right to leave home to pursue her hobbies and live her own life. If she donates a kidney to her sister, she will not only be unable to exercise vigorously in the second half of her life, but after starting this head, she can only be tied to her sister for the rest of her life and cannot have a life of her own. We can imagine that if this situation continues, Anna gets married one day (if she can find a boy who can accept this situation), she may not even be able to go to the honeymoon, because in case her sister needs a blood transfusion, she Must be around.
Regrettably, the director's story about Anna only stayed at the level of physical pain, but did not go further to tell the impact on her entire life. Similarly, Jessie's story has also been hurriedly taken, and the rebellious teenager who hoped to be taken seriously by his parents became a dragon painter. I think that if Kate's illness affects the eldest son not well, it is better to cut this role. After all, the original book wanted to talk about the tragedy that such an unfortunate incident brought to everyone in the family, not just Anna alone.
What I can’t understand is that the director didn’t have time to elaborate on Anna’s story, nor did he say much about Sara’s struggles and struggles. He almost emptied the two male characters of Brian and Jessie, and deleted the excitement of the original atrium. The plot, but spent so much space describing the love between Kate and Taylor. This passage is only mentioned in the book, but it is very detailed in the movie, which is out of proportion to the other passages. Perhaps the director is to make the audience understand the motivation of Kate's desire to give up his life, but as I said before, it seems that this burden was thrown too early, but it weakened the role of Anna.
When I first saw the cast, I was very excited, especially Alec Baldwin. When I read the book, I already brought the image of Jack as a language master in 30Rock. But the completion of the film made me feel that such a strong cast was wasted. If you are interested in this subject after watching the movie, it is recommended to read the original.
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