Having read the book and the watched to movie, I personally enjoyed them both. Unlike many movies based off of a novel, this movie actually follows the exact story line of the book. However, there were many characters that I could say were different throughout the movie and particular scenes that were different than the book. For example, the movie does not do a good job of characterizing each sister, but this may have been on purpose to more clearly show how the boys clumped the sisters together and never truly knew the details of each sister. The book better explains the girls. I found this take on characterization more intriguing because it made you feel like you were part of the sisterhood and allowed you to sympathize with each girl on a personal level.
Trip Fontaine was quite the same in both the movie and the book. His attitude, his look was exactly the way I envisioned it to be. He was the ultimate heartthrob and in the movie you could see how easily his charms worked on the girls. For instance, there was one scene when Trip was late coming to school and he had to go to the office to get a slip. A young girl was sitting at the chair and he basically proved why every girl in the school drooled over him. All he did was go up to her and say "Hey beautiful. I'm late again." Then he pushed a strand of her hair back and she blushed. That's all it took for him to get a slip for being excused for being late. The one scene which I found was the most different compared to the movie was the scene when Trip and Lux have sex on the football field. In the book Trip said "I just left her. I didn't care how she got home." In the movie Trip says "I don't know why I left. I just got up and left, not caring how she got home." Trip Fontaine regrets leaving Lux a lot more in the movie than in the book. When I read this exact scene in the book I was so mad at Trip for doing that but when I saw the exact same scene in the movie I wasn't mad because this time I could understand his emotions. It seemed as if Trip was scared about how hard he fell for her and leaving her was the only solution he could think of at the time. In the movie I felt bad for Trip because it seemed he was confused about his feelings for Lux.
Another difference between the book and the movie was the romance of Trip and Lux. In the book there romance happened in the span of 30 pages, but in the movie it seemed as though it was the central event. The book shows that this romance led to the eventual downfall of Lux. After committing her “virgin suicide” she was isolated from society because of her parents’ loss in trust, but this did not stop her from being sexually involved. In the book she the romance between Lux and Trip did not seem like love. It seemed as though Lux used him for her own pleasure. This compares to the movie because the director of the movie showed this as not only a sexual interaction but a love. It made it seem as though Lux became depressed not because of the isolation from society following this event, but because of the heart break she experienced when Trip left. There was one significant scene about Lux and Trip that was different than in the book. There was one phrase that Trip said to Lux and that was "Your a stone fox". After the both of them have sex, they do not speak to each other again. That was the same in both the movie and the book. What was different was when all the girls were taken out of school and were in their rooms, that Lux replayed that sentence in her head while sitting on the window seat. For me, that changed the relationship dynamic between them. The repeat of that phrase proved that Lux still cared about Trip but more importantly still thought about him. That dialogue was never repeated in the book and therefore I was sad that Lux and Trip never got together or never thought about each other.
Also Mr. Lisbon was one I really despised in the book. However, my interpretation of him changed in the movie. In the book Mr. Lisbon seemed as equally if not more responsible for the girls' suicides. He seemed rude and strict in the book but his character in the movie was different. In the movie it seemed as if Mrs. Lisbon wore the pants in the house and in their relationship. For instance, when Trip asked Mr. Lisbon if he could take Lux to the Homecoming dance, Mr. Lisbon said "Oh I don't know. I'll have to run it by my wife first." There were a couple examples in the movie of when Mr. Lisbon seemed to connect or show love toward his daughters, which weren’t shown in the book. For example, when Lux Lisbon won the award for Homecoming Queen at the dance Mr. Lisbon seemed very proud. Also when the girls were getting ready for the dance Mr. Lisbon came in and took a photo but all Mrs. Lisbon did was say "Drive carefully" and "We normally don't allow this." Mr. Lisbon just seemed more caring and loving in the movie than in the book. Mr. Lisbon emotions shown through his body language and facial expressions in the movie gave me a new perspective of him.
Overall, the book and the movie went along with each other well. The casting and the uses of color to portray mood in the movie really went along well with the book. There were just a few character and scene differences, but the underlying point and themes were still intact throughout the movie.
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