5 Hollywood movies that were better than the book
Adapting a book for the celluloid has been in practice for ages. And, over the years, Hollywood has produced some marvelously crafted movies of such kind, such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Princess Diaries, and Outlander, among others. But, oftentimes, filmmakers outdo the brilliance of their base material, that is, the original book/novel. Here, we list five such top films.
'The Devil Wears Prada' (2006)
Based on American author Lauren Weisberger's 2003 novel of the same name, The Devil Wears Prada had Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly, Anne Hathaway as Andrea "Andy" Sachs, and Emily Blunt as Emily Charlton. Reviewers were of the opinion that Weisberger's novel was like a tabloid article, while the film was classy. And, the elegance was amplified by Streep's powerful performance.
'No Country for Old Men' (2007)
No Country for Old Men, directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, is our next entry. Now, Cormac McCarthy's 2005 eponymous novel was great, but readers found it confusing due to the author's love for no-punctuation prose. Hence, when the Coens simplify the story and combine it with superlative performances by Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin, the film becomes the obvious winner.
'The Notebook' (2004)
Eleven novels by American novelist Nicholas Sparks have been adapted to films and The Notebook is one such. But when it boils down to a comparison, the film takes the cake. Why? In the book, the romantic encounters between the leads are syrupy-sweet and pretty melodramatic. The film has its exaggerated emotionalism moments, too, but Ryan Gosling-Rachel McAdams's chemistry negates each one of them.
'Fight Club' (1999)
Our fourth entry is Fight Club, which established Brad Pitt as a suave heartthrob. Did you know even Chuck Palahniuk, on whose book the David Fincher-directorial is based, had once said that after watching the film, he was "sort of embarrassed" about his book? That's because Fincher tied up many loose ends and made logical conclusions in the film, which Palahniuk failed to do.
'Silence of the Lambs' (1991)
No one, just no one can bring the eeriness of Dr. Hannibal Lecter as efficiently as Sir Anthony Hopkins (sorry, Mads Mikkelsen!). Silence of the Lambs gives us the creeps even to this day—thanks to Hopkins and Jodie Foster's earnest performance. On the other hand, Thomas Harris's 1988 novel—on which the film was based—was a tedious read due to the writer's unnecessarily long descriptions.
