"One Day"

I just read the novel One Day by David Nicholls this past week, and I have to say that after now having seen the movie, I feel a bit cheated. Some of the scenes and lines from the film were taken word for word from the book, and that was great, but the movie seemed to fly by at lightning-fast speed, while the book took the time to slow things down a bit. As always, however, it is interesting to see how a novel and its characters translate to the big screen.

Emma (Anne Hathaway, "Love and Other Drugs") and Dexter (Jim Sturgess, "21") have a one night fling of sorts the day they graduate from university in Scotland, and their relationship turns into a friendship. Through good times and bad, they are there for each other, and constantly present in each other's lives, even though for the most part it is not a romantic relationship. Little do they know when they first meet on that day in 1988 that they will go through so much with each other, and that their friendship will last for twenty years.

Jim Sturgess was the perfect choice to play Dex in this movie, and he absolutely nails the part; he is flirty, handsome, and changes a lot throughout his friendship with Emma. Anne Hathaway was great in the part of Emma as well. Patricia Clarkson ("Friends with Benefits") plays Dex's mom, and I would have liked to see a bit more of her; her scenes in the movie were not as involved as in the book.

Yes, see this film, but do yourself a favor and don't read the book until AFTER you've seen the film. I feel that in some ways the book spoiled me from enjoying the movie more. The film is decent but the book has tons of additional little details which the movie doesn't take the time to explore. While watching the movie, I almost felt like I had seen it before, just because it stays so true to the book, but it's the small parts of the book that made it so good, and the movie is lacking in this, as are most movies that are based on novels. The ending of the book, too, is a bit unconventional, and because I had read the book first, I knew to watch for that scene in the movie. Therefore, please do see the movie first, and then read the novel, so that you will feel as if you are learning more about the characters, rather than missing parts of their lives.

One Day is currently playing in theaters.