White Oleander

Some movies inspire me to want to read the book, some books make me long to see the characters and story on the big screen. This was one case where I read the book, and really couldn't wait to see the on screen version. I think it was all the pre-release hype that the movie had that caused the frenzy. It's unfortunate that very few movies maintain the full (emotional and otherwise) impact as their written counterparts. (some do; the Harry Potter movies, and The Color Purple come to mind immediately) There was so much going on in White Oleander though that it would've made for an extremely long (but probably still good) movie. The book is always better, but in this case, the movie was pretty good too. You get some of the visual aspects with just a touch of the emotional anguish that's better detailed (and felt) in the book. For me, a keeper, both the book and the movie.