The Member of the Wedding

Paquin's accent isn't great, although she is a reasonably affecting Frankie. Julie Harris she is not, but she has her moments. Woodard is terrific as Berenice, as far as she was allowed to go.

But the novel, which is a dreamy, exquisite book, has been eviscerated. Not only did the writer (or more likely, the producer or the director or Hallmark) simply lop off the rest of the story, but Berenice's big scene, wherein she tells of Ludie's death and her subsequent, hopeless search for "pieces" (as she says) of him, has been eliminated, except for a fragment plopped (why?!) at the beginning of the movie.

Really, I think there should be a law against hacks putting their hands on art. Everything Mrs. McCullers created -- the characters, the pathos, the heat and boredom of that summer, the depth of their sorrow, longing, restlessness, disappointment... oh! and the plot -- has been diluted for easy consumption by the public, most of whom, alas, will not even know the difference. Which, I suppose, is why, and how, the perpetrators of this pale fraud justified this sorry mess. Shame on them.

Read the book and then (and only then) see the original movie. Please.