Movies and books

I finished reading The River King by Alice Hoffman, which I liked very much. Interesting characters and moving situations about love and loss and forgiveness. Great stuff and well written. So, I remember liking the movie and wanted to watch it again. It happened to be on Netflix Instant Play, so I got to watch it tonight. Very well done, but a fascinating adaptation. Of course you have to leave things out of a book when you make the movie, but this seemed so spare and pared down compared to the book - you didn't get to know anything about these complicated people. And they changed a major plot point. I understand why they did it, to emphasize the theme of letting go, but it was still almost bizarre. The movie stands pretty well on its own, due to atmospheric directing and great actors in the major roles (and obviously a terrific story). But (as always) the book was much better.