Was that supposed to be the book I read? - Beautiful Creatures

 

My mom and I went to the movies last night to see Beautiful Creatures.  I never expect a book and movie to be identical.  Occasionally, they surprise me and don't cut too many major parts (like The Lord of the Rings and most of The Harry Potter movies), sometimes, a movie surpasses even the book (rarely), sometimes the movie adaptation becomes a separate classic in its own right (Gone With the Wind, To Kill a Mockingbird), but as is usually the case, this movie adaptation left me wondering what they were thinking in places.  That's not to say that the movie was bad.  I actually liked the movie, and I liked the actor and actress that they chose for the main characters.  They weren't completely what I expected, but they did a good job and they seemed to have chemistry on the screen.  What bothered me was that they took a fairly good book and took out too many key scenes and characters.  I'm sure this was done in the interest of time (and money), but the movie had so many differences towards the end, that I actually wondered what was going to happen (and I've read the book)!  Beyond that, my mom was confused at the end, which shows that they left out something essential to the story.  In addition, some of the characters needed more development.  I would have liked to have seen more about Macon, Amma, Ridley, and Link.  Furthermore, the flashbacks (essential to the entire curse) were barely a part of the story.  Perhaps if I hadn't read the book so recently (or at all), I would have thought the movie was great.  It may be that the story was just too fresh on my mind.  If you've seen the movie, read the book, or any combination of the two, let me know what you think.