Disappointing Book-To-Film Adaptations That Could’ve Been Oscar Contenders

[Awardsfan1990 Joined: Mar 28th, 2015 Topics: 100 Posts: 5092 View Predictions]

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Many great novels have been adapted for the big screen, and many of them have done justice to their source material and received acclaim in their own right, and have been nominated for or won Oscars. This is, of course, due to a number of factors such as the plot, themes, and praise of the original novel, as well as the actors and filmmakers involved in the film adaptation.

But then there are the novels that are great enough on paper to make a wonderful film adaptation, and a great team is put together both in front of and behind the camera, but despite that, it somehow fails to capture the spirit of the novel, and as a result, is criticized by critics and audiences and snubbed by the Oscars. One of the most prominent examples I can think of here is Serena by Ron Rash. The novel is basically a retelling of Macbeth, with the setting changed from medieval Scotland to Great Depression-era North Carolina. Instead of nobles murdering a king to seize the throne, the protagonists, George and Serena Pemberton, are timber barons who are fighting against environmentalists protesting their empire. Meanwhile, George learns that he illegitimately fathered a child from before his marriage to Serena, and when he begins to secretly support the child financially, Serena begins to see the child as an additional threat. I won’t say much more beyond that; go and read the novel for yourself.

Anyway, the film adaptation looked like it would be great, with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence starring and Susanne Bier directing. Yet, somehow it all fell flat. Cooper and Lawrence’s performances were okay, but nothing special, at least not as special as you would’ve hoped if you read the novel. The writing and the directing also feels stilted, and the production design and costume design don’t do enough to capture the look and feel of the time. The whole film feels like you’re just moving from Point A to Point B without real cohesion. Plus, the epic ending of the novel is completely eliminated here, throwing away the whole theme of karma that the novel portrayed. As a result, it’s no wonder the film got zero Oscar nominations, which is a shame, because it definitely had the potential to be a major contender from the novel alone.

Anyway, that’s my personal take. What are some other book-to-film adaptations, that on paper could’ve been an Oscar contender, yet the finished product was extremely disappointing?

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[Jeffrey Kare Joined: Jan 23rd, 2013 Topics: 118 Posts: 4897 View Predictions]

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One I know many people found to be disappointing was The Lovely Bones. Not only was the original novel very well regarded, but you also had the great Peter Jackson directing its film adaptation with an all star cast consisting of Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Stanley Tucci, and Susan Sarandon. Yet, the end results of the movie didn’t quite stick the landing, and only garnered one Oscar nod for Tucci’s performance. Though I must say that I actually quite liked the movie more than a lot of people did. In fact, the last time I watched it back in 2018, I thought the story became more relevant due to the (at the time) recent start of the #MeToo movement. Plus, as someone who read the original novel in my freshman year of high school, I found the adaptation to be pretty faithful.

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[Leo Grant Logan Joined: Nov 7th, 2010 Topics: 3 Posts: 145 View Predictions]

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The Goldfinch

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[Dan Backslide Joined: Apr 24th, 2016 Topics: 45 Posts: 3250 View Predictions]

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While not without their strong moments, The Hobbit movies should’ve been at most two, and shouldn’t have been overcrowded with all kinds of new stuff. If they were more accurate representations of the beloved books, they might’ve had some serious awards success, although they never would’ve done as well as Lord of the Rings.

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[Edgar Pereira Joined: Jun 29th, 2011 Topics: 1 Posts: 330 View Predictions]

#1203813123

BLINDNESS, directed by Fernando Meirelles, based on José Saramago’s novel.

Edgar Pereira
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Cinema and Popcorn
https://cinemaandpopcorn.blogspot.com/

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[estrelas Joined: Jul 25th, 2018 Topics: 1 Posts: 5473 View Predictions]

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Edgar Pereira wrote:

BLINDNESS, directed by Fernando Meirelles, based on José Saramago’s novel.

José Saramago is just way too complex and inaccessible to get adapted just like that. Blindness is literally one of his most philosophical books. It’s just too complex. Baltasar and Blimunda, on the other hand, would be an amazing adaption with the right director/writer. After watching The Favourite, I think Yorgos Lanthimos would do a phenomenal job.

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[OneAndOnly Joined: Mar 21st, 2017 Topics: 11 Posts: 1096 View Predictions]

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Where’d You Go Bernadette?

Have a great day if you see this!

FYC:
The Great
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Severance
The Batman

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[Chloe Sevigny stan <3 Joined: Jul 13th, 2019 Topics: 4 Posts: 1118 View Predictions]

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The Great Gatsby. They always rely far too heavily on the material which is silly for a book like Gatsby. I feel like someone like Greta Gerwig could give it a fitting adaptation though.

Emmy FYC:

Chloë Sevigny in “The Girl From Plainville” and “Russian Doll”

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[Awardsfan1990 Joined: Mar 28th, 2015 Topics: 100 Posts: 5092 View Predictions]

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Great picks so far. I definitely agree on The Goldfinch and Where’d You Go, Bernadette as well. I do like The Hobbit films, but I agree that stretching them out into an entire trilogy was unnecessary. Two films would’ve been sufficient.

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[Noe Joined: Feb 20th, 2014 Topics: 0 Posts: 193 View Predictions]

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estrelas wrote:

José Saramago is just way too complex and inaccessible to get adapted just like that. Blindness is literally one of his most philosophical books. It’s just too complex. Baltasar and Blimunda, on the other hand, would be an amazing adaption with the right director/writer. After watching The Favourite, I think Yorgos Lanthimos would do a phenomenal job.

Lanthimos adapting Saramago is what dreams are made of.

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[Atypical Joined: Dec 1st, 2011 Topics: 71 Posts: 4896 View Predictions]

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“The Giver.” Lois Lowry’s masterpiece deserved far better than a YA claptrap film like this. The lead was a personality void who luckily has done little of note since. Bridges and Streep couldn’t save it and were both brought down by the adaptation.

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[Miss Joined: Apr 1st, 2018 Topics: 0 Posts: 168 View Predictions]

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The Glass Castle

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[wolfali Joined: Sep 4th, 2018 Topics: 215 Posts: 32931 View Predictions]

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The Golden Compass was the most disappointing one. Had it adapted the novel properly then it could have been a big contender.

For example despite the film being complete trash Kidman gave an Oscar worthy performance as Mrs. Coulter and with better writing and a better film she could have actually been nominated in Supporting Actress that year.

FYC:

"The Good Fight", "The Other Two" and "Station Eleven" in all categories, Sarah Lancashire ("Julia"), William Jackson Harper ("Love Life") and Luke Kirby ("The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel")

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[John Berchmans Joined: Jan 22nd, 2018 Topics: 2 Posts: 2921 View Predictions]

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A movie about Frankenstein that ignores all of the other films and directly adapts the original novel could be a masterpiece. But I doubt that would ever happen.

John's Best of 2020

Best Picture: Soul
Best Direction: The Midnight Sky
Best Actor: Chadwick Boseman
Best Actress: Viola Davis
Best Supporting Actor: Delroy Lindo
Best Supporting Actress: Amanda Seyfried
Best Screenplay: Soul

John's Best of 2021

Best Picture: Nomadland
Best Direction: Nomadland
Best Actor: Lakeith Stanfield
Best Actress: Frances McDormand
Best Supporting Actor: Daniel Kaluuya
Best Supporting Actress: Youn Yuh-Jung
Best Screenplay: Judas and the Black Messiah

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[Gabe Guarin Joined: Feb 23rd, 2017 Topics: 9 Posts: 1201 View Predictions]

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I imagine there are some Miramax and Weinstein Company movies that fit this bill.

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