I'm a huge James Patterson fan. I have my shelves filled with the bird kids, the women's murder club and Alex Cross tales. Sometimes I can read a book and pass it on to someone else and be happy I read it, but for my favorite authors I will loan you the book, but in the end I want it on my shelf so I can revisit and read it again. I inherited this trait from my parents.
So last night I went to see Tyler Perry play Alex Cross with an open mind. When you are a reader I've found you have to "let go" of the knowledge you have about the characters and pretend that it's a new story. The first time I saw "What dreams may come" I was so disappointed. I read the book again and decided that if they had really been successful in adapting the book to a script for a movie I would have had to be at the theater for about 8 hours. It happens, they have to change things.
But the movie as a stand alone was fantastic. I cheered, I sat on the edge of my seat and I cried. And when one movie can pull all those responses and emotions out of me, it's a great movie. My surprise was how much I hated Matthew Fox. You loved him lost, you pulled for him and cheered for him and I never expected such a great "bad guy". I'm looking forward to seeing if I can like him again in his next role. For me that's the true test for an actor. Make me hate you, then make me love you again in a new role and you're great.
Years ago when I saw Jeff Bridges in the vanishing he became that character to me. He hasn't been able to convince me he's not "that" bad guy since. And that's two decades of me not liking Jeff Bridges.
Bearing that in mind, if you read the Alex Cross series by James Patterson, don't expect a completely accurate account. Just think of it as taking the characters you know and love from the book and letting them play a little different part. So I do recommend you see Alex Cross, but don't expect James Patterson's excellent characters to be there. They sadly are not. But viewing it as "just a movie" and with an open mind, I enjoyed it. I saw hints of Alex and Matthew Fox did a fantastic job.
Comments(12)