I think my friend is going to regret selecting this as their favorite book-to-film adaptation.Yesterday, I finished reading Flowers for Algernon for the first time, and it instantly became one of my favorite books. Its framing device of having Charlie scribe his thoughts down into a progress report lends itself to becoming an incredibly complex, deeply moving, bittersweet, and extremely hard book to read, especially considering how deeply I related to the book's subject.
I admit that I am harsher on movies based on books I've already read, but even separating 'Charly' from its book counterparts, it's hard for me to connect to this movie.
Many of the complex themes present in the book, from its explorations of the ethics of scientific studies, the awful treatment of mentally handicapped people in society, and Charlie's need to prove himself to the world, are severely toned down.
There are things that I liked about this movie. Cliff Robertson was good as Charlie, and I can see why he won an Oscar for his performance. His portrayal as the mentally handicapped version of Charlie could have been terribly dated, but it shockingly wasn't. It still displays its thought-provoking nature, and the overall production value, compositions, and editing were quite beautiful.
Unfortunately, removing or distilling many key aspects from the novel doesn't do this movie any favors. Those diary entries are so integral to Charlie's growth, and while you sense that growth visually, much of it feels glossed over. The structure of this movie and the extended focus on Charlie and Alice's relationship hardly leaves any room for Charlie's detachment from those around him, and ultimately makes the part when he finally questions the doctors less potent.
The ingredients were there for a solid movie, but they focused on the wrong things, leaving out the most important part of Charlie's character, and restructured everything to again have less of an emotional impact. I'm curious how the 2000 film stacks up against this, and while this movie isn't terrible, I was very disappointed.