11/22/63 miniseries disappointment SPOILERS

  • This message board permanently closed on June 30th, 2020 at 4PM EDT and is no longer accepting new members.

WeLiveat815

Member
Dec 12, 2011
12
23
Just watched yesterday. The change in the Bill character is terrible. Trying to create a buddy movie plot.

Also, Oswald's living situation around Dallas was a mess in the mini-series. I understand the problem of creating, explaining so many settings, but terribly handled, IMO. For example, Oswald lived in a rooming house at the time of the shooting. And he stayed at the Paine house with Marina on Nov. 21. The series suggests he wasn't there, when Ruth answers the door to find Jake and Sadie there.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GNTLGNT and Neesy

amanda johnson

New Member
Oct 16, 2016
2
4
67
I have been watching the miniseries for 11/22/63 and I am very disappointed by the way it is not very true to the novel, I'm usually okay when movies don't have every single detail because that is impossible with a book as long as 11/22/63, but when they take things that are important and add things that aren't and don't add anything real to the story that's what gets me angry.

An example of this is at the dance where Jake and Sadie were chaperoning together. they didn't dance to In the Mood by Glenn Miller, instead they danced to some song that nobody will recognise later if they do the harmonies of the past (Which I doubt they will at this point)

Also they added a character that wasn't in the book at all, some guy named bill that is now helping Jake in his mission to stop Oswald.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Neesy and GNTLGNT

amanda johnson

New Member
Oct 16, 2016
2
4
67
Hi, everyone. I'm new to threads. Never posted on one. Never read any of them on any website. But I have been moved to post on this one in the hopes (magical thinking, I know) that Mr. King or someone who talks to him frequently will pass on my review and that of many on this thread.

I am a realist when it comes to selling the film rights to a novel. When you sell the film rights to your work, you effectively give up ALL control (there have been a few exceptions). Filmmakers can do anything they want. Sometimes changes are made simply because of the differences in the two media. For example, first-person narratives are often hard to bring to film.

However (and this is a huge however), for those of us who love the novel and even use passages from it to teach our English classes, the film version of this novel is . . . awful. Shame on Abrams for bringing us this schlock. Mr. King, my condolences.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Neesy and GNTLGNT

Aloysius Nell

Well-Known Member
Apr 1, 2014
309
1,009
51
Hi, everyone. I'm new to threads. Never posted on one. Never read any of them on any website. But I have been moved to post on this one in the hopes (magical thinking, I know) that Mr. King or someone who talks to him frequently will pass on my review and that of many on this thread.
.

Welcome, Ma'am. Post all over this bad boy. I've tried to post in every novel's page at least a little; probably failed at that. There's a lot of 'em.

Anyway, it's great to have you.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GNTLGNT and Neesy

JimInTally

Member
Jul 5, 2016
12
28
78
I believe I may have posted something about this under another discussion, but how many of you were pleased with the miniseries version of 11/22/63 that came out, I believe it was, last year? I thought it was godawful and an abominable "adaptation" of the book. They totally trashed the book for no reason, left out major portions and added characters that weren't in the book and changed basic plot elements. Some say it was because the book was so long, but The Stand was almost as long, and yet, it followed the book right down to the letter, with only one minor change that didn't detract from the book. I really hope he will see fit to have another adaptation made of it. The book deserves a faithful translation to the screen.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GNTLGNT

ServantThirteen

Well-Known Member
Nov 7, 2016
103
383
49
I am glad to hear that the book is much better....but that is almost always a given. I too could not make it through this series. Very uninteresting on the screen.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GNTLGNT

Fatefalls86

New Member
Apr 22, 2017
1
1
37
Anyone else notice how Jake told Sadie in the miniseries how the Dallas police department screwed everything up so badly before he lost his memory? Did she somehow lose hers too? Seems like she would know that the shooting would be taking place in Dallas if the Dallas police department are the ones who messed up the investigation. Especially because she knew that dallas was one of the stops kennedy would make. Just saying.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GNTLGNT

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
Anyone else notice how Jake told Sadie in the miniseries how the Dallas police department screwed everything up so badly before he lost his memory? Did she somehow lose hers too? Seems like she would know that the shooting would be taking place in Dallas if the Dallas police department are the ones who messed up the investigation. Especially because she knew that dallas was one of the stops kennedy would make. Just saying.
...s'up man?....
 

FlakeNoir

Original Kiwi© SKMB®
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
44,082
175,641
New Zealand
Anyone else notice how Jake told Sadie in the miniseries how the Dallas police department screwed everything up so badly before he lost his memory? Did she somehow lose hers too? Seems like she would know that the shooting would be taking place in Dallas if the Dallas police department are the ones who messed up the investigation. Especially because she knew that dallas was one of the stops kennedy would make. Just saying.
Welcome to the site. :smile:
 

Dynamo

Well-Known Member
May 12, 2017
90
302
43
Denton, TX
I watched 4 episodes and gave up on it but I didn't really hate it or anything. I didn't really mind the changes, I liked that it was different and Bill coming on as his partner. I was skeptical about Franco in the lead but I liked him. I just didn't like how condensed it was and that it ended up feeling like going from one screw-up to the next. There were many times in the book I thought Jake/George was an idiot but they were spread out across a long book and you had plenty of time to like him and for other characters to like him. In the series he feels like he's just bumbling from one mistake to the next and pissing off one person or another. It's constant tension without any of the stuff in-between that balanced the book.
 

Shoesalesman

Well-Known Member
Aug 12, 2010
1,814
4,093
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Just watched the series on DVD over the course of four nights. The best part - the musical score; outstanding, moody, non-recycled, covered all the emotions. Seemed like there was something new musically in each episode. If I ever find it on CD, I'll do backflips.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Neesy and GNTLGNT

Steffen

Well-Known Member
Aug 9, 2015
2,233
12,800
I thought it was a pretty decent adaptation, and yes, there was quite a bit of material from the book that was left out and the timeline was contracted in order to speed up the storytelling.

Now here's my disappointment (and let me emphasise that it's a disappointment, and not a complaint): my favourite line in the book wasn't used. I was so looking forward to the scene where Jake tells Sadie "If there is love, smallpox scars are as pretty as dimples. I'll love your face no matter what it looks like. Because it's yours." I know it sounds mushy, but I think it's one of the sweetest lines SK has ever composed. I was kinda let down when I didn't hear it.
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
I thought it was a pretty decent adaptation, and yes, there was quite a bit of material from the book that was left out and the timeline was contracted in order to speed up the storytelling.

Now here's my disappointment (and let me emphasise that it's a disappointment, and not a complaint): my favourite line in the book wasn't used. I was so looking forward to the scene where Jake tells Sadie "If there is love, smallpox scars are as pretty as dimples. I'll love your face no matter what it looks like. Because it's yours." I know it sounds mushy, but I think it's one of the sweetest lines SK has ever composed. I was kinda let down when I didn't hear it.
That is a good line Steffen

I recently deleted the whole series I had recorded just to make room for a new series.
 

fljoe0

Cantre Member
Apr 5, 2008
15,859
71,642
62
120 miles S of the Pancake/Waffle line
Just watched yesterday. The change in the Bill character is terrible. Trying to create a buddy movie plot.

I think the Bill character was needed so that Jake had someone to explain what he was thinking to. In the book, Jake did most of his Oswald work alone so to show it that way on film, narration would have been needed. I think a character to interact with was a better choice than narration.
 

Steffen

Well-Known Member
Aug 9, 2015
2,233
12,800
I think the Bill character was needed so that Jake had someone to explain what he was thinking to. In the book, Jake did most of his Oswald work alone so to show it that way on film, narration would have been needed. I think a character to interact with was a better choice than narration.

That's correct, and the producers said as much. The only other technique that could have been used was a voice-over, but I prefer actors interacting with each other to move the story along.
 

clyee0227

Active Member
Oct 3, 2017
32
87
New Orleans, LA
I have been watching the miniseries for 11/22/63 and I am very disappointed by the way it is not very true to the novel, I'm usually okay when movies don't have every single detail because that is impossible with a book as long as 11/22/63, but when they take things that are important and add things that aren't and don't add anything real to the story that's what gets me angry.

An example of this is at the dance where Jake and Sadie were chaperoning together. they didn't dance to In the Mood by Glenn Miller, instead they danced to some song that nobody will recognise later if they do the harmonies of the past (Which I doubt they will at this point)

Also they added a character that wasn't in the book at all, some guy named bill that is now helping Jake in his mission to stop Oswald.
I haven't seen the series yet but absolutely loved the book. I'm just blown away that they add an entirely new character to help Jake. That seems like it would change the context and dynamic of the whole thing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GNTLGNT

clyee0227

Active Member
Oct 3, 2017
32
87
New Orleans, LA
I think the Bill character was needed so that Jake had someone to explain what he was thinking to. In the book, Jake did most of his Oswald work alone so to show it that way on film, narration would have been needed. I think a character to interact with was a better choice than narration.

You know, I think you're absolutely right. I never thought about that. But, as I've stated in other posts, part of the reason I love SK's books are because he can really describe and make you feel like you know the characters he writes about. We know how and what they're thinking and the reasons behind why they do what they do. It's difficult for the emotion that we get from the books to be put across on the screen;the terror they feel, the love the feel, or the utter despair. Very difficult it seems. I haven't seen the series yet, and now I'm wondering if I should even bother watching it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GNTLGNT and fljoe0