Kim Barker

I remember reading a newspaper review of the film "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" where Kim Barker was asked what it was like to see her life portrayed on the big screen. She sidestepped the question with some polite answer, but after reading her book, I can feel her pain.

The movie is nothing like the book.

Now when you read something like that, you're accustomed to thinking, "Yeah, they always screw up the movie adaptation of good books."

No. The movie is nothing like the book.

Literally.

Yes, there's a journalist who goes to Afghanistan, and her name is Kim Barker, and there endeth all similarities. Which is a shame, because the book is really good, and the movie (if you see it before you read the book) seems to hold its own, but if you read the book afterward, you realize...

The movie is nothing like the book.

Contrary to popular belief, many movies are better than the books they're based on. The novel "The Dark Fields," for instance, felt repetitive and uninspired beyond a certain point; the brilliant screenplay for "Limitless" by Leslie Dixon, covered up all the shortcomings of "The Dark Fields" and punched up the plot, the relationships and the ending. (Leslie Dixon, by the way, is an extremely talented screenwriter whose work I'm impressed with.)

So a movie that deviates from the book can add value to the story. A movie that has nothing to do with the book, when the book is really good, is unfortunately sad, because I love cinema, just as I love a good book.

Trust me on this one: you want to skip the movie and read the book instead.… (altro)