the oracle

The plot was a fantastic adaption from the story. While there were changes here and there (the most major change is the way the movie ends), I don't feel those changes detracted from the story at all. In fact, I think they added to it in such a way that I like both versions equally. I thought the acting was excellent as well. As you may or may not recall, I loved Thomas Jane in The Punisher, and I wasn't disappointed by his performance in this movie, either. Marcia Gay Haden was perfect for the role of Mrs. Carmody. She did such an excellent job of playing a zealot that I was ready to cheer when she got beaned with a can of peas, and when she finally died, I was elated. I spent the entire movie trying to figure out what else I had seen Laurie Holden in. It wasn't until Mike and I were talking about the movie on the way home and one of us mentioned Silent Hill that it clicked for me. There were a lot of other familiar faces in the movie (William Sadler from Roswell, Andre Braugher from Glory, Chris Owen from Van Wilder, Can't Hardly Wait, She's All That, and American Pie), and I think they did a very good job with the casting. The cinematography was perfect for the atmosphere of the movie, and the music really added to the atmosphere as well.

(Note: In the movie, Thomas Jane's character is an artist, and as the movie starts we see him working on a painting that looks very much like a gunslinger from Stephen King's Dark Tower series. I thought that was a nice touch.)

There were only two changes to the story that I thought detracted a little bit, although they certainly didn't ruin the movie for me. The first was the scene where the Army guy explained what might have happened, where the creatures were coming from. I liked the way the story originally had it - the people thought the mist might have something to do with Camp Arrowhead, but they didn't have any proof either way. The other change I didn't like was when Thomas Jane's character went back to his house to check on his wife. In the original version, they just got the hell out of the town without wasting gas or time to go check on people, and I think that was more in keeping with the uncertain nature of the story.