The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

I played hooky from quilting yesterday afternoon and went to see a matinee of the movie "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy". I loved that book when I first read it so long ago...has to be nearly 20 years now. Wow. I liked the whole series, but I especially liked the first book. I remember literally laughing out loud during parts of it. So, when I heard they were making a feature film out of it, of course I had to go see it. Debra asked me this morning what I thought of it and I honestly didn't know quite what to say. The truth is, I'm not quite sure what I thought of it! On the good side, I thought the casting was excellent. Arthur, Trillian, and Zaphod were all very much the way they were in my mind. Ford and Marvin looked different than I had pictured, but the personalities were spot on, and that's much more important. I also thought the movie had some wonderful visual elements. I kept seeing scenes where I wished I could freeze the shot for a minute and really LOOK at it. (That's one advantage of watching DVD's rather than seeing a movie in the theater...being able to do just that!) But the movie overall left me feeling vaguely unsatisfied, like they'd almost gotten it right, but somehow not quite. And I can't put my finger on exactly what the problem was for me. I just know that some of the jokes I thought were so funny in the book fell flat for me on the screen, and I found myself feeling bored in some sections and sneaking glances at my watch. Is it just that this is one of those stories, like so many others, that makes a better book that it does a movie? Is it that my tastes have changed since I read it so many years ago and maybe I wouldn't find the book as funny now as I did then? I may test that last one by re-reading the book soon and seeing what I think of it. I'm not sorry I saw it, but I'm glad I only paid matinee prices. And I won't be buying the DVD when it comes out.