Google didn't return a thread for this and I didn't want to post in the Oscar thread and muddy that one up.

I happen to read the book last year as a journey through recent Pulitzer Prize winners and it was great. (So was the authors other Pulitzer Prize winner, "The Underground Raliroad"). I wasn't in a big hurry to see the movie because the movie is never as good, and outside of Best Picture it's not a big contender. Glad I watched it though.

Really beautifully done film, but you have to stick with it. It is very artsy, which I didn't expect. The book makes for an easily made straight ahead narrative Oscar bait movie, but they definitely didn't go that route. It is very faithful to the book, while bringing a completely new flavor to it. All the actors are really good as well.

- I say you have to stick with it because at times the choices can be off-putting. It can almost come off like a student film where the student just learned a few techniques and decides to overuse them. The aspect ratio, the cuts to black screen, the blending in of current events like MLK and the space program, and chiefly the POV camera work! They can all wear you down. Halfway through I felt like if I was his teacher I would have stopped and told him to tone it down. Homeboy was like Homer Simpson with the star wipe! However, as you stick with it, they actually come around to be endearing and effective. It's a weird journey!

- I found it a bit curious that they switched actors for the grown up "Elwood" instead of just aging the actor. But maybe it served to re-enforce his re-invention, taking his friends name and becoming a new person.

Thanks for the rundown, and great to hear. This is still one of my blindspots, Oscar-wise, and I need to try and remedy that soon.

I expected to like this movie, and I really wanted to like this movie, but in the end I just didn't.

1) Your description of an excess of film school tricks is spot on. I didn't mind the first person perspective much, but there were at least 15 minutes of straight fluff in this film that made it overlong and added virtually nothing to the experience. As one critic put it, if you can understand why the director included a sequence of brain MRI pictures, please explain it to me, because I sure don't.

2) Much like another Best Picture nominee, the basic contour of the ending was telegraphed a mile away, even without reading the book. And the 'twist" just left me with a reaction of "meh, OK". At the end of the day, I just didn't care much about the characters.

The MRI is a great example. Absolutely agree.

In the book there is no flash forward that leaks the ending like the movie. In the book it's not really a twist at all, it's just how the story goes. I agree the movie telegraphed it too much to then make it a "twist" of any sort.

It's hard to judge the movie on it's own, because, having read the book, I already had some investment in the story and characters.