As a novel, I place Something Borrowed in the same categories as Confessions of a Shop-a-holic (without the comedy). Both are stories that lightly address hard subject matter--one, a story about the 'other girl' that wrecks the monogamous relationship and the second a story about a girl in debt. I know--no one sees Shop-a-holic like that but it IS a comedic take on a bumbling young woman's life and modern consumerism. One solution to escalating Something Borrowed into a more serious novel would have been to round the male characters (particularly Dex). Regardless, it's a fun read (I thought), and I liked the ending. Too often you have the 'I'm independent and happy.' No one says that happiness and spontaneity require independence.
As for the movie--good start. Obviously, there were some twists from the novel; however, they were well executed and actually contributed more to the movie-goer audience. Overall, I liked the beginning and thought it reflected the mood/content of the book (right through Dex's confession at the bar and after). Then it fell flat. Basically, the writers forgot to develop the new relationship and skipped to the 'I love you.' Similar to the book, they forgot about the guy. Yes, they spent a few extra scenes on him--but, once again, you were left with a really good-looking guy playing the part of a really good-looking guy. The movie was well acted and the reviews give credit to the actors (except the really good-looking guy). I don't think that's his fault--he worked with what he had (which was a type-cast part).
The movie did a good job in portraying the friendship between Rachel and Darcy. However, it falls short of the great insight provided in the book of two friends who, as opposites, suffer from a 'grass-is-always-greener' mentality. You get a sense of that as Ethan relays to Rachel that Darcy never got into Notre Dame--however, this speech only pounds in the message if you had the layers of the relationship already explained up to that point. Overall: The book wins on this regard but the movie fails somewhat. However, both succeed in at least portraying the internal conflict experienced by the female protagonist (the movie falls short, again due to the fact that it skipped the development of the Rachel-Dex relationship).
Regardless, I'm adding this movie to the chick-flick pile. It's the kind of movie that I will probably pull off of the shelf after a rough week when I don't want any hard thinking and just images flashing before my eyes ending in a rounded and simple conclusion.
As for the movie--good start. Obviously, there were some twists from the novel; however, they were well executed and actually contributed more to the movie-goer audience. Overall, I liked the beginning and thought it reflected the mood/content of the book (right through Dex's confession at the bar and after). Then it fell flat. Basically, the writers forgot to develop the new relationship and skipped to the 'I love you.' Similar to the book, they forgot about the guy. Yes, they spent a few extra scenes on him--but, once again, you were left with a really good-looking guy playing the part of a really good-looking guy. The movie was well acted and the reviews give credit to the actors (except the really good-looking guy). I don't think that's his fault--he worked with what he had (which was a type-cast part).
The movie did a good job in portraying the friendship between Rachel and Darcy. However, it falls short of the great insight provided in the book of two friends who, as opposites, suffer from a 'grass-is-always-greener' mentality. You get a sense of that as Ethan relays to Rachel that Darcy never got into Notre Dame--however, this speech only pounds in the message if you had the layers of the relationship already explained up to that point. Overall: The book wins on this regard but the movie fails somewhat. However, both succeed in at least portraying the internal conflict experienced by the female protagonist (the movie falls short, again due to the fact that it skipped the development of the Rachel-Dex relationship).
Regardless, I'm adding this movie to the chick-flick pile. It's the kind of movie that I will probably pull off of the shelf after a rough week when I don't want any hard thinking and just images flashing before my eyes ending in a rounded and simple conclusion.
