Saturday, 14 March 2015
Do I Love, Rosie?
I love book adaptations. Or I love to hate them. I hear
about one in post-production; a massive mainstream blockbuster and I
practically wet my pants I’m that excited. Even the ones I haven’t read, I will
try to read before I see it. The whole way through I naturally compare the film
to the book. Which of course you shouldn’t do, but so what, this is how I
approach the matter.
Most of the time I prefer the book. I will list all the
film’s inadequacies, the plot they omitted, and the inventions and additions in
utter fury, practically compiling a letter to script writer. Ahem Harry Potter.
But this is a very pleasurable kind of fury.
Occasionally I like both the novel and film as separate
entities. Angus Thongs and Perfect (Full Frontal according to the book)
snogging. The Hunger Games. Pride and Prejudice, to name a few. These all stay
faithful to the novel yet deliver something new as well.
Sometimes though I prefer the film. This is rare because I
really like reading! Surely the book, which many people consider to be the
‘original’ source, the stimulus, the inspiration, should naturally be the
springboard because it is so good. Not in this case may I add.
Love, Rosie is fairly nice film. It is sweet, tender-hearted,
funny, and obviously completely unlike reality, but hey what else is new. The
book it is based on is Where Rainbows End by Cecilia Ahern. Now this isn’t the
first time I’ve read one of her novels and felt disappointed. P.S I Love You
again a great chick-flick falls short on the novel. Ahern creates excellent
narratives but doesn’t write them very well.
Where Rainbows End tells the story of Rosie and Alex, best
friends since childhood, confronted by misunderstandings therefore torn apart,
almost brought back together, torn apart again, almost brought back together,
torn apart again…this goes on for forty years. In emails. Forty years of emails
is a long read. I can’t tell you how frustrating this book is. You kind of hope
they get together by the middle as Ahern can’t keep this flimsy ridiculous
structure up for as long as she does! Not only does Rosie have baby Katie aged
18 while Alex disappears to Boston (of all places) they each go through a
couple of marriages each, divorces, children, terrible jobs, deaths, until they
finally…well, the ending happens. By then you just don’t care as they’ve wasted
their whole lives!
Love, Rosie on the other hand condenses these four decades
into one, no more children are born and only two divorces (only). Katie’s
father and Rosie’s first husband is made one character, Alex doesn’t have
children, and Rosie has a lot more successes than she would in reality. But, to
be honest, this is what a film or book audience want, we don’t need to hear
constant whinging about how badly her life has turned out. In the novel you
very quickly feel sorry for her friends because of the amount ear-bending she
does. Therefore Lily Collins’ Rosie is much more likeable even though her life
appears much easier than it should.
If I considered it as a film on its own, without any consideration to the book, I wouldn’t care for it much. Jamie Winstone plays an entirely pointless character, literally only there to advise Rosie. Rosie’s pregnancy and its consequences really don’t appear very important; there is no emphasis on what she’s losing by becoming a young mother. Also, it’s just frustrating that she pretends it hasn’t happened to Alex. He’s meant to be her best friend yet she thinks he shouldn’t know. Rosie’s life seems very easy and the finale comes with her great success. It’s very pleasing for audiences but not particularly believable.
However, I think I’m now just being unnecessarily picky. All
I can say is thank you for giving this dry and exhausting narrative some spark!
Love, Ally.
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