Damien Harris's "Greasy Lake" is based on T.C. Boyle's original short story written in 1982. Harris follows Boyle's story almost exactly in the film, with little additions here and there, like the opening scene in the bathroom. The film included direct quotes, and showed how the three boys' night on the town quickly turned into a living hell. However, although Harris closely follows the original story, I felt as though Boyle's intention of 1980's satire is lost in the film. It's as though you are supposed to take the film more seriously than you take the story. It seems much darker and grimmer than Boyle's original work. In the story, the narrator is telling his tale in retrospect, looking back to when he was 19when he thought he was a "bad", tough character. In the film, the viewer looses the irony Boyle used in the original because what was told in retrospect, is now spoken through dialogue, and naturally is taken to be more truthful, as if they really are badasses who know everything and can do whatever they want. Still, Harris must be given credit for attempting to transform Boyle's work into a film. The movie itself is entertaining, but as in most cases the viewer loses the finer details and, in this case, the overall meaning of Boyle's short story.
