©1999 Dell Yearling, New York
Sometimes you read a book and want to see the movie based on
it. Sometimes you see the movie first. That’s what happened to me just a few
weeks ago. The family and I were watching a really good family film based on
Kimberly Willis Holt’s award-winning book. In this kind of scenario, I usually
say that the book is better than the movie (when approaching Ernest Gaines’ The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,
forget about Cicely Tyson’s career mistake and read the book) with an
occasional hiccup where the movie outshines the book tremendously (What the Deaf Man Heard was much better
on the screen than its counterpart, Whatthe Deaf Mute Heard). But sometimes, just sometimes, you encounter
something that is worth your while in either format because one’s not better
than the other – they’re just . . . different.
Consider the nice little film released in 2006 and starring
Jonathan Lipnicky (et al). Here we have a superb family film about small-town Texas, and all the
quirks that endear it to us—regardless of where we really live. It earned a PG
rating for some mild language, but over all you can sit down with even your younger
children and a bowl of popcorn and laugh/cry your way right along with the
characters. The acting is pretty good. The characters are developed to a point
of recognition from the moment they hit the screen. The story flows with most
of the events from the book with a few major variations that don’t really damage
the plot itself. Some anomalies that hit you over the head are the military
involvement of the best friend’s brother, which misses the book’s 1970s
setting, and the use of email where Holt’s characters wrote letters. I’d
recommend the movie for all ages of film-watchers.
On the other hand, the book is recommended for the thirteen
and older group. My ten-year-old daughter is an excellent reader and would
sprint through this book like it was water. She’s even quick enough to catch
all the nuances of what’s going on in the book. But some of the themes
addressed by the book, well, I’m not ready for her to have to tackle them. Even
so, this is a well-written, smooth reading book that the YA audience and adult
readers alike would enjoy.
Antler, Texas
is a widespot in the road where nothing ever really happens. Nothing until
Zachary Beaver, the “World’s Fattest Boy”, shows up that is. Follow along with
the adventures of Toby and Cal
as they learn about love, hate, anger, war, and death, all in the matter of a
couple hundred pages. If the development of the characters in this book has any
fault it is that the support characters are rather flat and the narrator is too
nice—but we’ve all been in his shoes.
Check this book out of you local library, or buy it for your
shelf, or find it in e-form—you will want to read this book. You’ll see why
it’s on virtually everybody’s reading
list. Watch the movie, too. It’s great family fare. Just remember, even with
their similarities, they are (almost) entirely different enjoyments. (In other
words, if you’re one of those who waits for them movie to watch instead of reading the book—read the
book; and if you’re a purist who says you only read the book and don’t like
movies based on books—watch the movie. In either case, you’ll be glad you did.)
Book and movie—neither is to be missed. Five out of five reading glasses (or
popcorn bowls) all around.
—Benjamin Potter July 24, 2012
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