The Pelican Brief discussion

becuase of the brilliance of my man denzel, i am gonna have to go with the movie on this one

actors, and the acting were good......but the movie did a disgrace to the book.

i liked the book so much that i got hold of the movie and watched it......total disappointment....

Really liked the book but totally disappointed that they had to change the characters for the movie.

did u watch the movie before you read the book....

i guess perception and thoughts are different for people.....but i agree on your comment about julia roberts.....almost felt like strangling her....LOL

I have got "A time to kill".......but i'm just waiting for the story to fade away in my mind, so that i can enjoy the movie as it is........

I liked the book of the Pelican Brief,did not see the movie.

I haven't read The Client.....i'll try to get hold of it.....have you read any books by William Lashner...

I sure have. The client, which I thought was okay, not as good as his others.

Suzanne wrote: "I haven't, are they any good? I love James Patterson, have you read any of his?"

I've read two of his books from the Victor Carl series, "Hostile Witness" & "Marked Man". Loved both of them....Hostile Witness had a real twist for the climax....

Nothing by James Patterson yet.....

I loved the book. The movie was okay but as always they changed things which i didn't like.

I liked the movie a lot, but loved the book more. Like his other early books, there's something special about the way he tells those early stories that can't be translated to the screen 100%.

I thought the book read like it was intended to be a Julia Roberts movie. Oh wait, it became one.

I liked the book more, I like to just read his books. Not the movie adaptations.

LOVED the book...would have liked the movie if I had never read the book. It always seems when a movie is made from one of Grisham's novels, it never follows the story line of the book...don't like that!

Book was much better then the movie. It is rare when the movie is better. So much has to be left out to keep the movie around 2 hours.

Book was better, but movie was very good. Excellent casting - DW and JR both a good fit for the characters + plus they had great chemistry.

BOOK! I thought the movie was very good but the book has it beat by far!

I like the book better, you can't capture the suspense in a picture like you can a book.

Book.

however much I liked the movie (i loved Stanley Tucci as an assassin) the book is by far better than the movie.

Definitely enjoyed the book over the movie, movie was still entertaining though.

I enjoyed the book much more than the movie. I like seeing the characters and situations in my mind rather than what will fit into a 90 minute movie. They caught the essence in the movie, but so much was left out that it doesn't seem like a fair comparison. The book is far better.

The book is always better.

In my experience a book is always better and the reason for this is that in a film the story is told over two hours (or however long that particular film is) while a book will take you considerably longer to read.

I also think that with a book you are allowed to interpret each character in your own way. With films I have often been disappointed with the actor / actress chosen to play a role just because it isn't how I imagined the character from the book. When you watch a film you are presented with the director or producers interpretation of the book and a fair amount of artistic licence.

Finally I can usually only enjoy a film if I have not read the book first because then I won't have any expectations.

actually i liked them both the book is always better but denzel and julia did a good job

book because the movie ends on an awkward note. Though Julia Roberts did a fantastic job ... I will always choose the book over the movie unless I haven't read the book.

The book is far greater than the movie. period!

Monica wrote: "actually i liked them both the book is always better but denzel and julia did a good job"

very true it is one of the books h=that really follows the outline that john Gresham intended i feel

I prefer the book. Though I thought Denzel did a pretty good job. Stanley Tucci was a so-so. Of course, the book has so many information written in it that a 1-1/2 hr movie could not accommodate so they had to cut a few important details.

I like both, but I liked the book better. To me when you turn a book into a movie, the book is always better than the movie version.

Anne wrote: "I prefer the book. Though I thought Denzel did a pretty good job. Stanley Tucci was a so-so. Of course, the book has so many information written in it that a 1-1/2 hr movie could not accommodate so..."
very true stanly tucci is amazing

Book

Thought the book was better than the movie (I usually do.) but the movie wasn't bad. Couldn't see Denzel Washington as the reporter (not that he didn't do a good job. He's a great actor). He just didn't fit my image of the character.

Denzel Washington is a very good actor. However I have always liked books better than the movies and that goes for this book also.. Two hour movies cannot cover the full story of the book.

Both were good. So often the movie doesn't do the book justice and I feel so sad for the author. But this time, both were good. Grisham should be proud. I loved the book, and I'll watch the movie whenever it comes on.

I connected better with the book than the movie, though both were rather excellent.

I remember when they filmed this movie right next to the retail store I used to work at in downtown DC, and I met both Julia Roberts and Denzel. I couldn't get into the book, but the movie was good.

I appreciate John's later books. John writes with so much simplicity, and yet what he says in simple words is packed with visuals. I love that in a writer.

Selena Haskins
Author of "A River Moves Forward" (Amazon)

The movie was well done; acting and casting were excellent. Nevertheless, the book was so much more in depth. I must vote for the book.

The book was better but not by much. I enjoyed the movie mainly cause of Denzel and Julia chemistry.

book on tape (disc)....Grisham's books translate to audio so well that it has become my preference

A quick shift of gears, but still Grisham. Reading Morgan's comments above about the ending, how did you all feel about the ending of "The Firm"?

Overall, I liked the book much better. The movie seemed miscast other than Gene Hackman, who was brilliant.

But the ending in the book was so down, it kind of killed it for me. Grisham did a great job of making me like and root for Mitch McDeere, it was sad to see him so screwed in the end and living on the run and in fear the rest of his life.

The movie did a better job in that one regard. Mitch took charge and found a way to get his life back. How do the rest of you feel?

I totally agree with Christopher: "I connected better with the book than the movie, though both were rather excellent".

Mark wrote: "A quick shift of gears, but still Grisham. Reading Morgan's comments above about the ending, how did you all feel about the ending of "The Firm"?

Overall, I liked the book much better. The movie ..."

The movie made Mitch's exit "cleaner" than the book (if you know what I mean) but if I were Grisham I'd be offended to take out Mitch's core character. I think he was described as an aggressive, risk taker,young lawyer. He was "toned-down" on the movie. Kind of disappointed, though I thought Tom Cruise did a fine job.

I like the movie but I would have to choose the book .

Bryce wrote: "becuase of the brilliance of my man denzel, i am gonna have to go with the movie on this one"

im with you. although they were different enough to stand alone.

Heck, Julia didn't even shave her head. Come on, that would have been easy enough.

Books are always better, but..............with Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington, hummmm.

Book

Have you ever read Big Fish, Eydie? I'm not sure you would say books are ALWAYS better than movies if you had. But for the most part books are better and they require more participation from the reader than movies do from the viewer.