I’m a big fan of Ian McEwan AND Daniel Craig, so Enduring Love has been on my list of films to watch for a long time. We got it out on DVD last night.
I enjoyed the film, Daniel Craig made a good Joe, I thought. The only thing nagging me was that the book lost me in the middle, I almost didn’t finish it. I think it went down a slow-moving complex path, but I can’t quite remember. I do recall thinking “these men are locked into this, and so am I. Yikes.” It was only Ian McEwan’s wonderful skill with language that kept me going. He is a joy to read, just his sentence structure, even if the text is a little, um, boring at times. Or maybe it was me. Anyway. The film’s plot was not really very complex, just a study of two men’s separate obsessions after a shared event. Actually Joe had several obsessions, one after the other, whereas Jed (Rhys Ifans) just had the one. He was very good too, by the way.
So the nagging feeling needed investigating. Decision: reread the book, quick, or check out IMDB. I did the latter of course, although I will do the former in the near future too. Other people are talking about how the film cut out a lot, so I was right. But the film stands up on its own the way it is, so I think it’s a success. I gave it a 7 at IMDB. I only give 8s or above if I definitely want to see the film again. 7 is for “I’ll watch it again if it’s on, it was a good film”
How funny, I felt the same way about this movie, and I haven’t read the book. I did enjoy the film but I felt it needed something else. The performances were all good, and I will watch it again if it’s on, but I won’t necessarily seek it out or recommend it to other people. Hm, I’ll have to read some Ian McEwan. It’s the second time I’ve heard of him this week!
I haven’t been able to finish Atonement although I will give it another go. My first McEwan was The Child In Time and I’ve also read Amsterdam both of which I really enjoyed. Atonement is being adapted for film, I’m not sure when it’s due for release, maybe it is already!