Screen adaptations that were either better than the source material (as in, I liked them more) or took the original to unexpected and creative new places.
Only includes titles I've read AND seen the adaptation, but please drop suggestions in the comments.
Maybe controversial but I’d put American Psycho on here. I found the adaptation takes the best parts of the novel and reduces the intentional tedium of the book that I found exhausting. I’d say I liked the adaptation’s killing of Paul Allen and the scene with Defoe’s private investigator more than the novel.
I’m a big fan of the film but still haven’t gotten around to the book, otherwise I strongly suspect it would be on this list! It’s a film that never fails to crack me up, especially any scene with Paul Allen or Dafoe – and the business card showdown scene lol
I’d be curious to see what you think of it. I think the movie takes almost everything great in the book and cuts a lot of what didn’t work for me. The only scene in the book I felt was missing from the movie was his obsession with reservations and there’s a great chapter near the end where he’s having a manic breakdown while on the phone with like 5 different people juggling reservations. There’s some other funny or good moments that I felt tonally wouldn’t work for the movie but that part was so great.