How to adapt a film from a book: Nobody’s Fool
By Alan Herrmann
MOVIE CRITIC
I have to admit that when a film comes out based on a novel that I’ve read, I get excited. I’m eager to see how well the movie maker captured the novel and if the actors match the characters in the book as I’ve imagined them.
Viewing these films can be a roll of the dice as far as expectations are concerned. It’s even more challenging using the internet than it was when we relied on newspaper or television critics to help us decide what to see. When we watch movies armed with information we glean from critics, we still have our own expectations, especially from an adapted source.
Adaptations from book sources can be challenging for screenwriters because readers and viewers rarely share a universal vision of the book or film. Good adaptation screenwriting requires careful analysis of the source, deciding if the film’s length, for example, can do the book justice or if it should be a television series. Plot elements may be altered or dropped altogether, while characters are omitted or composited. Sometimes screenwriters will work with the book’s author who might object to what’s happening to their “baby,” offer suggestions, or even collaborate with the screenwriter to bring the story to life.
I believe one of the finest film adaptations of all time is Nobody’s Fool (1994).
Robert Benton wrote the screenplay from Richard Russo’s outstanding novel. If you’ve read the novel, you can see the challenge Benton faced, considering the scale of the story and the long list of interesting characters. In fact, I’ve often thought of Russo’s novels as Dickensian in scope.
Benton did have some counsel from Russo, who appreciated the undertaking and understood that changes would have to be made. Benton was able to do this with the script, while preserving the integrity of the novel, by keeping much of the humor and quirkiness, particularly in the dialogue.
He also decided which characters to keep and which to leave out. Instead of the large ensemble of characters struggling with their lives in the economically depressed town of North Bath, the movie focuses on Donald Sullivan – aka “Sully” – played masterfully by Paul Newman as a divorced, injured, and broke handyman who’s looking for a break.
Sully’s trying to secure steady work for his friend Rub as well as himself. He’s also trying to avoid his ex-wife, patch up his nearly non-existent relationship with his son and grandson, and take care of his landlady, Miss Beryl – played by the great Jessica Tandy in her last role – who was his childhood teacher.
People and events seem to orbit around Sully, which helps keep the movie flowing along nicely. Sully is that small town guy everybody runs into sooner or later. Newman captures him a little less dark than in the novel, with a wicked sense of humor and less complicated relationships. In the book there are several backstories that work fine in a long novel but can be problematic in a two-hour film. Instead, Benson as writer and director is smart enough to retain the demons that plague Sully, including conversations about his long dead, abusive father without using flashbacks. Even characters who had pages dedicated to them in the book are still memorable in short scenes because the dialogue is so sharp and often hilarious. It’s a tradeoff that works.
Besides Newman and Tandy, director Benson was also able to recruit Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Pruitt Taylor Vince. They all shine in their roles, as do several other character actors.
Carl Roebuck (Willis), Sully’s part-time employer and friend, is a womanizer, and his wife, Toby (Griffith), is fed up with his antics. Toward the end of the film, Toby asks Sully to run away with her to Hawaii. Even though they flirt in the novel, Sully and Toby never reach this point. Benton felt having a more romantic edge to Sully could still work well in the story and attract Newman fans by having a potential relationship between Sully and a younger woman. Benton also leaves out Sully’s on-again, off-again girlfriend from the novel to simplify things. It’s a bit of a risk, but it works without radically changing the end of the story.
The beauty of Nobody’s Fool is that you can enjoy it on its own, watch it after reading the novel, or read the novel after watching the film. Often, we envision the characters as the actors if we read a story after viewing the film. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing considering the amount of talent involved in the production.
Here are a few other movies that retain the integrity of their adapted sources:
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) – Novel by Harper Lee, screenplay by Horton Foote.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) – Novella by Stephen King, screenplay by Frank Darabont.
Great Expectations (1946) – Novel by Charles Dickens, screenplay by David Lean, Anthony Havelock-Allan, and Ronald Neame.
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