I didn’t even know this book was made into a movie, let alone a movie starring a youngish Bella (yes, I know her name is Kristen Stewart, but I look at her and say “Oh! That’s Bella!”). But, thanks to the miracles of Netflix, I discovered it, got it in the mail and watched it the other night.

On the one hand, I was wary as to how this would work as a movie, since the premise is that Melinda retreats into herself and doesn’t speak. It wouldn’t have been a very good movie if it was done entirely in voice over. As it was, there was a fair amount of voice over, but it was balanced with dialogue (more from Melinda than I expected) and I thought it worked.

As for the story, I thought the filmmakers did a decent job following the arc of the book, without giving too much away too soon. Of course I knew what happened, but Hubby (who, surprisingly, watched it with me) was impressed at the way they revealed Melinda’s rape. I’m not sure how well they caught the depression, but they used the trees quite admirably. That, and Steve Zahn was brilliant as Mr. Freeman.

It’s one of those cases, though, where the movie was good, the book was so much better. Anderson’s writing is more powerful than the movie gives the story credit for (or Bella’s acting, for that matter; she does sullen really well, but I think that may be about it). Anderson captured depression and helplessness in a way that made the reader feel depressed and helpless, and while the movie sparked some interesting discussions afterward, it didn’t involve the viewer in quite the same way.

Still, it was an interesting experience watching the story.

Verdict: the book’s better, but the movie wasn’t half-bad.