At first, I was worried that this movie would be as bad as the book. Don't get me wrong, I was obsessed with the books and read them all within a week, but they weren't that well written. Anyway, I really enjoyed the movie. It was funny in places and almost made me cry in others. The actors did very well and accurately portrayed the roles as described in the book. I would say that you don't need to read the book beforehand to understand the movie but if you have read it, don't go into the theatre expecting it to be exactly like the book. Enjoy the movie for what it is... a movie.