Monday, March 30, 2009

Fabulous Movie Review©

The Kite Runner
Released: 2007
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Length: 2 hrs 7 mins
Genre: Drama
Starring: L. Peter Callender, Larry Brown, Saïd Taghmaoui, Shaun Toub, Homayoun Ershadi
Directed by: Marc Forster
Cinematographer: Roberto Schaefer
Composer: Alberto Iglesias
Yeah yeah yeah, its not as good as the book, but not because the story was changed or key parts left out or gratuitous sex or violence was added, but because it is always difficult to convey what a character is thinking, portray his moods and explain what makes him tick in a film.

There's a lot of story to tell in a 2 hour movie, and some does get left out. His whole adult life is truncated and rushed, but it did take up a large portion of the book. Its almost as if the film makers spent to much time on the introduction and not enough on the summary. I remember back in school when I would have to write a paper about a subject I knew well, I could easily bust out the 5 or 10 page requirement, but once I hit that requirement, I wouldn't draw the proper conclusion at the end, because, hey, I only had to write 10 pages, not eleven. This is what this movie felt like.

"Sir, we've got enough footage for a 90 minute movie."

"Alright, people, that's a wrap."

Seeing (and reading about) an almost normal and modern Afghanistan (this was pre-Soviet and pre-Taliban) was cool and the scene with the kids dad cruising around Kabul in a Mustang is priceless.
7.5 out of 10

No comments: