T – Book vs. Movie – Tuck Everlasting

vs.

This is a semi-regular feature where I talk about which was better, the book or the movie. Most of the time I don’t know which will come out on top until I’ve worked my way through some of the criteria, and this is one of those times. Let’s see how it all pans out.

The Story/Plot- A family, two parents and two sons, discover not just a fountain of youth but a spring of immortal water. They drink it without realizing what it was until later. Every ten years each member of the family reconvenes where they drank the water, which happens to be in Winnie’s backyard. Winnie is 11 in the book and around 15 or 16 in the book. The family kidnaps her when she discovers their secret so that they can explain why she must keep their secret, none of them realizing that a man in a yellow suit is hot on the family’s trail and ready to cash in on the water. The two mostly aligned but the movie really played up the Jesse/Winnie flirtation and made that central to the story. In the book the whole family drew her in. Thumbs up…book.

The Visual I thought the movie was beautifully shot and really brought the land to life. Thumbs up…movie.

Characters vs. Actors I have loved Jonathan Jackson since he was Lucky on General Hospital as a kid (I remember watching GH on and off until Gage came along), so he was a real draw for me. The rest of the cast, too, was top notch; William Hurt, Sissy Spacek, Alexis Bledel, Ben Kingsley, Victor Garber, Amy Irving. My issue, really, is with the aging of Winnie. I know there’s not a lot of difference between a 106 year old making a play for an 11 or 16 year old, but it was easier to keep the innocence when Winnie was 11. Thumbs up…book.

The Ending There were some differences in the ending, it’s really just about preference. If you like the romance you’ll probably prefer the movie, but I really liked the book. I don’t want to spoil anything if you haven’t read it or seen it yet 🙂 Thumbs up…book.

And the winner is…the Book!!!!

Now it’s your turn to vote

Other book vs. movie polls you can vote on: (We Have Always Lived in the Castle) (Good Morning, Midnight/ The Midnight Sky) (Before I Go To Sleep) (The Little Prince) (Charlie St. Cloud) (Far From the Madding Crowd) (The Girl on the Train) (Tuck Everlasting) (Northanger Abbey) (Me Before You) (And Then There Were None) (Still Alice) (The Blind Side) (The Fault in Our Stars) (The Hound of the Baskervilles) (Gone Girl) (Jack Reacher) (Ender’s Game) (Carrie, the original) (Under the Tuscan Sun) (The Secret Life of Bees) (The Shining, the original)