So I just finished the book Horns yesterday and I decided to watch the movie a little after. And... I can recommend the book... but not so much the movie. Lol.
It wasn't bad, if I hadn't read the book I would think "ohhh this is okay." But I did read it and it wasn't. They changed everything important from the book. The book uses a lot of time jumps as a way to show the background of each character and you really understand why they do the things they do. Its a big book, everything is explained in great detail and it all makes sense. We see flashbacks of Lee and Ig as kids and see how Lee talks about women. He talks about wanting girls to be "cherry" and virginal or innocent looking. It shows that he is insane and that yeah he killed Merrin. Also in the book Merrin's sister dies of cancer and she is really awful to Merrin and her father and said unforgivable things. Merrin didn't want to be like that and she didn't want to put Ig through that, which is why she decided to die. In the movie its her mom that has cancer instead of her sister... which doesn't really have the same impact. In the movie her dad only deals with the death of a wife and a daughter, in the book he loses two daughters before they even turn 30... thats something not many people can relate to. Not that people can really relate to losing a wife and a daughter... but it isn't quite as tragic to me. Also it is a tragedy for both him and Merrin's mother so its tragic for two people as opposed to one. There is even a moment where Merrin says "Go to our tree house Ig" right before her death.
The movie played up a lot of the puns and cheesy things that were in the book... but it still wasn't as funny. I would have liked to see Ig in a Blue Dress. The movie didn't have as much humor in it... this is a really funny situation to be in, and a serious one at the same time... so I really like that the book played that up, and the movie was just very dry without it. It had cartoonish scenes like Glenna asking for the donuts and Heather Graham's part was funny... but they were just cheesy cheap tricks that they did far too many of. I just would have wanted it to be a bit more over the top than it was.
The movie was also an independent movie, so it didn't have a big budget... I think it could have used one. There are so many crappy blockbusters... but at the same time... this could have been a bit cooler with a bigger budget. I think they spent most of the money on the end sequence... which was pretty great for an indie movie. And also on Heather Graham's part... which I could have lived without. I think the end sequence was the best part of the movie... It was hard to picture in the book and I just thought that was pretty awesome.
There was also a little more closure in the book than in the movie. Ig tells his brother what to do and in this one he just kind of turns to stone. And then Terry ends up with Glenna, which is nice because Ig said of both of them "they deserve better." It made sense. I see why they left it out of the movie, Glenna wasn't as important of a character as she was in the book... but I liked that ending. It did end with Ig and Merrin "together" which would be their version of heaven if it existed.
So overall, it wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen... but it really wasn't very good. I wouldn't watch it again. I wouldn't recommend renting it, if you can see it for free it might entertain you. Other than that... nah. Not amazing. Daniel Radcliffe wasn't bad... but I always say that there are a lot of actors that are in bad movies that are still entertaining to watch. I wouldn't put Daniel Radcliffe in that category... but he wasn't terrible. Glad I read the book before because I would not have read it if I had seen the movie first!
Hope this was helpful!
Byeee!
-Shannon
It wasn't bad, if I hadn't read the book I would think "ohhh this is okay." But I did read it and it wasn't. They changed everything important from the book. The book uses a lot of time jumps as a way to show the background of each character and you really understand why they do the things they do. Its a big book, everything is explained in great detail and it all makes sense. We see flashbacks of Lee and Ig as kids and see how Lee talks about women. He talks about wanting girls to be "cherry" and virginal or innocent looking. It shows that he is insane and that yeah he killed Merrin. Also in the book Merrin's sister dies of cancer and she is really awful to Merrin and her father and said unforgivable things. Merrin didn't want to be like that and she didn't want to put Ig through that, which is why she decided to die. In the movie its her mom that has cancer instead of her sister... which doesn't really have the same impact. In the movie her dad only deals with the death of a wife and a daughter, in the book he loses two daughters before they even turn 30... thats something not many people can relate to. Not that people can really relate to losing a wife and a daughter... but it isn't quite as tragic to me. Also it is a tragedy for both him and Merrin's mother so its tragic for two people as opposed to one. There is even a moment where Merrin says "Go to our tree house Ig" right before her death.
The movie played up a lot of the puns and cheesy things that were in the book... but it still wasn't as funny. I would have liked to see Ig in a Blue Dress. The movie didn't have as much humor in it... this is a really funny situation to be in, and a serious one at the same time... so I really like that the book played that up, and the movie was just very dry without it. It had cartoonish scenes like Glenna asking for the donuts and Heather Graham's part was funny... but they were just cheesy cheap tricks that they did far too many of. I just would have wanted it to be a bit more over the top than it was.
The movie was also an independent movie, so it didn't have a big budget... I think it could have used one. There are so many crappy blockbusters... but at the same time... this could have been a bit cooler with a bigger budget. I think they spent most of the money on the end sequence... which was pretty great for an indie movie. And also on Heather Graham's part... which I could have lived without. I think the end sequence was the best part of the movie... It was hard to picture in the book and I just thought that was pretty awesome.
There was also a little more closure in the book than in the movie. Ig tells his brother what to do and in this one he just kind of turns to stone. And then Terry ends up with Glenna, which is nice because Ig said of both of them "they deserve better." It made sense. I see why they left it out of the movie, Glenna wasn't as important of a character as she was in the book... but I liked that ending. It did end with Ig and Merrin "together" which would be their version of heaven if it existed.
So overall, it wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen... but it really wasn't very good. I wouldn't watch it again. I wouldn't recommend renting it, if you can see it for free it might entertain you. Other than that... nah. Not amazing. Daniel Radcliffe wasn't bad... but I always say that there are a lot of actors that are in bad movies that are still entertaining to watch. I wouldn't put Daniel Radcliffe in that category... but he wasn't terrible. Glad I read the book before because I would not have read it if I had seen the movie first!
Hope this was helpful!
Byeee!
-Shannon
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