The World According to Garp discussion

I was thinking of renting the movie. Looks like a star-studded movie but no one seems to remember it. How is it?

it's charming enough, but it's dated.

Ralph wrote: "I was thinking of renting the movie. Looks like a star-studded movie but no one seems to remember it. How is it?"

the movie is superb. It's one of the great movies I have seen.

I saw the movie this weekend. My wife, who didn't read the book, thought it was very bad, especially the ending. I thought it was okay but didn't think it captured Garp effectively. His motivations changed, as did everything he wrote.

meh. To me, has none of the charm of the book.

Yep. I think a director like Wes Anderson could do a bang-up job on The World According to Garp today. Back in the early 80s, you didn't have the kind of aesthetic in cinema that could capture the characters.

I can't say I really enjoyed this book, probably my least favourite of John Irving's to date.

Ralph wrote: "Yep. I think a director like Wes Anderson could do a bang-up job on The World According to Garp today. Back in the early 80s, you didn't have the kind of aesthetic in cinema that could capture the..."

You are so right about that. Wes Anderson is the perfect director for John Irving's books. He would make an amazing version of Garp.

I enjoyed the movie but it is so wildly inferior to the book that you are probably better off just re-reading the book.

One of my favorite books from my youth. I've not re-read it, but I have very fond memories of reading it. The movie was actually not too bad, but the book was a gem.

I found the movie too truncated. I loved the book.

i DO like that movie, cause it's bettr (so RARE) than the book in a few ways - & it's a great CAST!

I really enjoyed to movie, I thought Robin Williams made a really good Garp.

To this day when I recommend a movie to my mother she asks if it's going to make her cry like that Garp movie I recommended, even though that was about 30 years ago. :))

I watched the movie before I read the book. I loved it! John Lithgow,Glenn Close, and Robin Williams were great!

I loved both the book and the movie.

And, in fact, it is the best book to movie translation I've ever seen.

I agree with the above, that Robin Williams made a great Garp; Glenn Close was a perfect as his mother. And John Lithgow as the gender-changed ex-footballer is not to be missed.

My other favorite thing was that they invented a couple of new scenes for the movie that were so, well for lack of a better term, "Garpian".

It is a little dated, but if you loved the book you're likely to love the movie too.

I like the movie a lot. filled with good actors.Robin Williams was great as Garp. Glen Close good as his mother. John Lithgow very good as the sex change ex football player. well done movie.

I was was super excited when I found a copy of the movie in my local rental place.

It's been awhile since I've watched the film, but I did read the book not that long ago.

I remember the film having some great moments...but not being as great as the book. It makes me think of the film version of The Cider House Rules. Both books have so much in them that moves over such a huge expanse of time. It's hard to cram in all the bits from the book that make it so special.

However, I think John Irving was the screenwriter for both Garp and Cider House and that's probably why these are two of my favourite book-to-film adaptations.

I didn't really get into the movie as I did with the book, although I recall there were some good performances from Glenn Close and John Lithgow *who played a transsexual and was nominated for a best-supporting actor Oscar if I remember correctly*.

Anywho, I don't remember it being bad, but it was a let-down from the book, which was one of my faves.

The movie was okay, but is haver never matched the power of the novel that makes me cry and laugh out loud whenever I read the book.

Ralph wrote: "I was thinking of renting the movie. Looks like a star-studded movie but no one seems to remember it. How is it?"

Good books usually makes bad films. Well, not all the time, but it's true in this case.

Liked the movie, loved the book! I like most anything by John Irving ... but, especially this story about T.S. Garp. The movie was good, the book is waaaay better. Happily, I read the book before seeing the movie.

I loved the book like most other people who took the time to comment/discuss. So when I realized there was a movie, especially a movie with that cast I was super excited.

I have to say though, I was dumbfounded while watching it, I felt like the movie was made about a totally different book. Obviously the most basic of aspects were the same but it failed to capture Garp's sexuality which was a huge driving force of his character.

Stu, in an above comment, said he found the movie "truncated." I think that's a great description. Many things were lost in the translation.

Over the years, I've grown to like the movie a lot. But I always thought the book was better.

I loved the book and thought the movie was a decent adaptation. It was tough to translate his mother and the trans-sexual woman/man. Book was much better, but the movie wasn't horrible.

I felt the movie was horrible.It has not done any justice whatsoever to the beautiful novel.The director has left out major chunks of the novel.Even with T.S.Garp being played by one of my most favorite actors, it felt drab.Its a feel good movie which misses the very essence of the UNDERTOAD of the novel.I was also very angry that director twisted PENSION GRILLPARZER!!

Kumar wrote: "I felt the movie was horrible.It has not done any justice whatsoever to the beautiful novel.The director has left out major chunks of the novel.Even with T.S.Garp being played by one of my most fav..."

I agree.

Ralph wrote: "Yep. I think a director like Wes Anderson could do a bang-up job on The World According to Garp today. Back in the early 80s, you didn't have the kind of aesthetic in cinema that could capture the ..."

This. At some points in the book I read it in a rather Wes Anderson manner. I feel he would capture the quirky, sensual, and disturbing 'under toad' of the novel in a cinematic piece.

I watched the movie at the cinema when it first came out, and loved it. It prompted me to start reading John Irving, so for that I am very grateful. Revisited the movie a few years ago though, and couldn't bear it. It felt so dated.

I'm about to reread the book for the first time in over 30 years too, so will be interesting to see what I make of that now.

Personally, I LOVE the movie. Great cast, wonderfully acted, an excellent interpretation of the novel.

There is one particular scene that makes me cry every time I watch it. I won't reveal the scene here, but it ALWAYS gets me.

To say the movie is horrible is a gross understatement. I saw the movie before reading the book so I bought the book thinking it had to be better than the movie. I was wrong. Its actually the other way around. I would not recommend either one.

The novel covers nearly the entire life span of the central character and the novel does a great job at drawing the reader into the character of garp. At times I find myself believing that i am reading a true autobiography. If we dont have this immersive experience the novel becomes kind of boring and loses a lot of its impact.

I think this is what happened in this movie. Robin williams was ok in the role it just wasnt as easy to identify with

For sure john lithgow was fantastic but his relatively small role could not save it.

It wasnt bad just difficult to bring a story like this with weak plot and great character development to screen.

Try cider house rules for a great book / movie pairing. I found in that movie really brings the book to life.