A long way down, the movie, is ‘Breakfast Club’ with balls

This week on a book lovers group, the question was asked ” Which authors of contemporary fiction do you love so much that you will buy their latest book without reading reviews, without even thinking about it? Where the author pull defies restraint and reason?”  I replied “Nick Hornby and Joanne Harris”, briefly forgetting my disappointment with Juliette Naked.  I love Nick Hornby books.  How to be Good was the funniest book that I have ever read.  High Fidelity, About A Boy and A Long Way Down are masterpieces.  I read A Long Way Down about 3 years ago and then described the book as “The Breakfast Club” with balls.  This week we watched the movie, the script is very different to the book, but my description remains applicable, the essence of the book did not change.

Movie adaptations of Nick Hornby books tend to veer quite far from the original stories.  In the case of High Fidelity my husband Cliff far prefered the movie, particularly the ending.  I prefered the book.  I read the book first, he watched the movie first.  When watching a film adaptation of a book straight after reading the novel, I am constantly comparing the 2 and cannot immerse myself completely.  The biggest disappointment ever was “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin”, which many loved.  I presume they never read the book.  I read A Long Way Down about 3 years ago.  This meant that details and the ending were forgotten, allowing me to watch the movie as an independent entity.  I loved it!

Aaron Paul who plays Jesse in Breaking Bad was very well suited to the role of JJ.  Pierce Brosnan was absolutely perfect as Martin Sharp.  Toni Collette and Imogen Poots were also spot on in their roles.  In short the movie was brilliant from casting to execution.  When I spend the following days thinking about a movie which I have watched I know that it is special and has made a real impact.  Now of course I want to re-read to the book to see where exactly where the differences lie, no problem, it deserves another look.