Aug 14, 2024
Adaptive advantage
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.
3 comments
kindi
3 months ago
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.
yarb
3 months ago
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
kindi
3 months ago
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.