Two installments of the hilarious Georgia Nicolson book series, Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging and It's OK, I'm Wearing Really Big Knickers, have now been adapted into a movie starring a bunch of unknown British actors, and a relatively funny cat. The good news? Although it's flawed, the movie couldn't really be deemed bad. The bad news (and something most book bloggers are generally interested in) is that it doesn't come within a mile of the books' spirit, humor and heart.
The protagonist is Georgia Nicolson (Georgia Groome), a 14-year-old girl with serious self-esteem issues. Her nose is the size of Jupiter, her parents are annoying... You get the idea. Her best friend is Jas (played by the charismatic Eleanor Tomlinson), with whom Georgia thinks up a genius plan on how to seduce the two new boys in school, played by two anonymous hotties. Of course, the plan backfires, and Georgie has to learn the lesson of... Boring.
The biggest problem with the film is the way they dumbed down (and sexed-down) the books so it could appeal to the tween crowd, at once evident from the title. You know you're in for a problem when you see the Nickelodeon logo at the beginning of the film. These characters are the High School Musical version of the original characters, and it just doesn't work.
That said, the movie is rather enjoyable once you forget about your expectations. There is a cutesy feeling going through the entire movie, and some of the performances are very naturalistic and measured. My favorite, however, was Angus, who may not deserve a pussy-flick of his own just yet, but who definitely shined in this one. Not a perfect adaptation, but not as horrible a disappointment as The Golden Compass was, this one's a good rental.
RATING: 3/5
5 comments:
Awww that's too bad. I always hate watching the movie after I have loved the book. Like "Where the Heart is" I asked my daughter - "How can you even follow this? It is so confusing, you really need to just read the book, its so much better."
But there exceptions - Just last night... I watched "In Her Shoes" I read the book about 2 years ago. I thought the movie was really good, and it did follow the book pretty well!
No way...I had no idea these were being made into movies!!! I loved these books when I was a young teen! Thanks for the info. It does sound annoying that they would "dumb it down" a bit, but this was still a lovely bit of news to wake up to this morning. Do you know if they're releasing this in the US? I haven't heard anything about it, but that doesn't really mean much. I'll have to tell my 14-yr old little sister about this, and buy her the books for Christmas this year--She'll love it! :)
Wendy, I loved In Her Shoes, and personally think it topped the book.
Allie, the film is already on DVD here in Europe, I don't know about the US. :S
I want to give the movie a try. And I'm bummed its a nickelodeon film. It seems that some parts would be inappropriate for their target audience. But I guess that's why they changed the movie a bit. Oh well...I lurvve the books though.
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