The Silver Linings Playbook: Movie/Book Comparison Discussion

[[deleted user]]

This thread was added to allow members to discuss both the book and film adaptation of The Silver Linings Playbook.

What major changes did you notice? Were the changes an improvement or were they failures?

Share your thoughts with the group and let us know.

[Gavin]

thank you for this will begin later with my comparison of them

[[deleted user]]

Jumping straight back into this from the other thread, I much prefer the portrayal of Pat Snr. in the movie. His OCD gave the house just enough of a strange dynamic to make the ensuing madness plausible. I think the father in the book could have been replaced with a cardboard cut-out painted with the word grrrrr!. I also thought it was better that he was bookkeeping for the Eagles' games. It gave him a reason to be more focused on them without being sociopathic and allowing the games to set the tone of his moods.

[Gavin]

Very true and glad the games didn't take up to much of the film I didn't like the father in the books I thought he was a bully then the brother in the movie wasnt that great they got doctor perfect :)

[[deleted user]]

What did you make of the different endings? Initially I thought the book ended quite unrealistically, but having seen the movie, I take it all back.

[Gavin]

I thought the ending on the film , was better a bit and at least he could say goodby to nikkie

[[deleted user]]

I didn't think that was necessary. It did nothing more than upset Tiffany and create a little extra drama before the dance-off.

I also thought the added significance of making dance-off an actual contest with repercussions for the father was over the top. They went from the light-hearted indie appeal of the book, right down to the other end of the scale to Hollywood schmaltz.

[Gavin]

ya the bet on the dance was added to add comedy and to give them a reason to bring the father to the dance. What did you think of the way the brother portrayed

[[deleted user]]

I thought the brother was a bit of a non-entity in the novel. He was more of a brother in the novel, trying to help Pat get over his failed relationship with Nikkie and trying to get him back into a routine. He might as well have been left out of the movie, for the purpose he served.

[Gavin]

ya no purpose at all in the film , opinion on Danny

[[deleted user]]

He was nothing more than comic relief in both the book and film. I liked Chris Tucker's portrayal of him. It was a more realistic character than in the book, I felt. I liked how in the movies he stays in touch with Pat, rather than miraculously meeting him outside his house after he's mugged. I hated these implausible consequences. They can even ruin stories for me.

Did you not think that the movie needed a little more Dr. Cliff? I liked their relationship in the book.

[Gavin]

Dr cliff ya could have been more detailed the book :) . It was better in the book more in detail

[[deleted user]]

Yeah, it was a shame he was cut so much. He was the most positive influence on Pat throughout the book.

[Patricia]

I think people who didn’t read the book could like the film much more than those who read the book.

I didn’t like the depiction of the father in the movie. The book showed a different dysfunction, and it related better to Pat’s psychological problems. Also the movie completely skipped over the mother’s own struggles with her husband, even though a watered-down stressful atmosphere existed between the two of them.

The way Pat came to terms with his feelings toward Nikki is more resonant in the book.

Anyone who liked this movie should see Benny and Joon, an unforgettable quirky romance.

[[deleted user]]

I agree with you about Pat's coming to terms, Patricia. It would wonderfully well, I thought. After a novel full of convoluted character interactions and affectations, it was nice to see a resolution that was so mundane in its depiction of a happy family yet still moving, for that.

I still can't see how such a family could last so long as a unit when one of the parents is so aggressive as to border on abusiveness. The book, with the functioning yet dysfunctional dynamic, works far better, for me.

Out of interest, what did you make of the endings? I originally thought that the book was corny, but having seen the movie I take it all back.

[Patricia]

Well, I never thought the book ending was corny. I thought it was sad and complex but somehow uplifting after he saw Nikki with her family playing in the snow. His reaction demonstrated how much he had healed. The book ending showed hope for Pat and Tiffany. The movie ending seemed a little too simplistically HEA, considering everyone's dysfunction that wasn't going to disappear because of some bets won. But that's the kind of ending most people who watch romance movies want to see.

[[deleted user]]

I wrote corny, but I meant cheesy. I agree about his seeing Nikkie's new family. It underlined that there was no hope of a reconciliation; that she'd moved on and he was unmistakeably out of her life. I was mostly referring to Pat and Tiffany lying in the snow and how Tiffany said 'needed' him. But compared to the clichéd chase down the street and the declaration of love, it was refreshing. I think more people would have been happier with the books ending. I think that the producers/screen writers/directors wimped out.

[Patricia]

Yes, I agree they wimped out, but I'm so happy I read the book. I may not have if not for this reading group. Thanks!

[[deleted user]]

Thanks for joining in, Patricia. It wouldn't be much of a group if members didn't participate.

[Gavin]

On the bipolar in the film you didn't miss That in the book as it wasn't in the book nothing was said in the book on pats condition but you could take it as TBI but he could have been bipolar aswell from my reading and knowing people with bipolar but also in the book pat could have other conditions , the director added the bipolar because of his family experiences I believe Russell made a good choice with the Bipolar as Jennifer said back stage answering a qs on what the movie will do for people suffering with bipolar " I don't think that we're going to stop until we get rid of the stigma for mental illness. I know David won't , and I hope this helps. It's just so it's bizarre how in this world you have to if you have asthma you take asthma medicine;if you have diabetes , you take diabetes medicine. If you have to take medication for your mind there's such a stigma behind it " and it's true that's why I think I wanted to read this book and see the film as it hits close to home :)

[Gavin]

Plus it was shot in 33 days

[[deleted user]]

I that the stigma of mental illness has declined significantly of the last two decades, but I don't it'll ever completely disappear; especially if someone has a condition that gives tendency to lash out or self harm. That's on of the reasons I thought that story (in both forms) worked. The kid-glove and walking-on-egg-shell treatment that Pat and Tiffany got drove them together.

[Gavin]

Same that's why I thought they worked true it will never begone