Bridge to Terabithia

Rating:
Summary: A great family movie with real life lessons to be learned.
Review: The film is a great experience for a young family. The movie like the book is a taunt piece of work that carries you through the experiences of a country boy, Jesse, and his new friend from the city, Leslie. As the friendship grows so does your understanding of the two characters. There is a twist ending which you will just have to see for your self.

Rating:
Summary: It was a lousy movie.
Review: The movie was lousy because it was not match to the book. I rather the movie was the same as the book. Where was Mrs. Meyers and Ellie? Why did Jess not meet the whole family of Leslie's?

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie!
Review: This movie is the best foe pre-teen kids and people who like a twist to the end. Its mostly about a boy (Jesse) who meets a girl (Leslie) and they start to become good friends and then one day a sad thing happens. I won't tell you, you'll have to watch the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Try the book!
Review: Well, let's just say it could be a whole lot better! They cut and change much from the original story, you'll constantly being doing a Double-take. The acting was decent, but let's call this movie a flop, disgracing the book. If you read the book, and want to see how badly the messed up the movie, be my guest, but don't say I didn't warn you. Just try and resist the urge to throw things at Leslie..

Rating:
Summary: A total disappointment
Review: When I discovered that a movie was produced that was based on Patterson's book, Bridge to Terabithia, I was very interested in viewing it. After seeing the movie, I was extremely disappointed in the film version. I felt that it did not develop the characters, plot, and theme to the point that Patterson had.

In the novel, Patterson does an excellent job of describing the main characters, Jess and Leslie. We discover their insecurities, likes and dislikes, and their family situations. Although the film does make it apparent that the two become best friends, Patterson has a way of showing you why they needed each other. Jess, coming from a family of having only sisters and demanding parents, needed an outlet and Leslie, being an only child with extremely progressive parents, needed Jess as a social peer. Patterson also explains how much Jess's life improves from meeting and building a friendship with Leslie, by becoming more confident and caring. The film does not cover that metamorphosis to the same degree.

Major scenes in the book have been severely shortchanged or even omitted in the movie. The strong opening where Jess is determined to be the fastest runner in the fifth grade is represented in a poor manner. The poignant moment where Jess builds a bridge to Terabithia, which is where the title of the book comes from, doesn't even exist in the film version! Jess's guilt from going to the art museum is lightly mentioned, but never clarified. Also, the lack of development with scenes involving key supporting roles, really affects the overall message in the story.

The two major themes of Patterson's book are friendship and loss. By not defining seasons in the film, the viewer is not fully aware of how long Leslie and Jess are friends. It does not give the idea that the two of them have developed such a strong bond that they would do anything for each other. The actors portraying the role were not convincing as to what their characters were truly feeling during critical moments in the story.

Once the credits began to roll on the television screen, I was left with the feeling that one of my most beloved books had been misrepresented. This is definitely a case where the quality of the book far exceeds that of the movie in all aspects.